As the largest class of natural products, terpenes have a variety of roles in mediating antagonistic and beneficial interactions among organisms. They defend many species of plants, animals and microorganisms against predators, pathogens and competitors, and they are involved in conveying messages to conspecifics and mutualists regarding the presence of food, mates and enemies. Despite the diversity of terpenes known, it is striking how phylogenetically distant organisms have come to use similar structures for common purposes. New natural roles undoubtedly remain to be discovered for this large class of compounds, given that such a small percentage of terpenes has been investigated so far.

The function of terpene natural products in the natural world.

Push-pull strategies involve the behavioral manipulation of insect pests and their natural enemies via the integration of stimuli that act to make the protected resource unattractive or unsuitable to the pests (push) while luring them toward an attractive source (pull) from where the pests are subsequently removed. The push and pull components are generally nontoxic. Therefore, the strategies are usually integrated with methods for population reduction, preferably biological control. Push-pull strategies maximize efficacy of behavior-manipulating stimuli through the additive and synergistic effects of integrating their use. By orchestrating a predictable distribution of pests, efficiency of population-reducing components can also be increased. The strategy is a useful tool for integrated pest management programs reducing pesticide input. We describe the principles of the strategy, list the potential components, and present case studies reviewing work on the development and use of push-pull strategies in each of the major areas of pest control.

The Use of Push-Pull Strategies in Integrated Pest Management

Twenty five years after its first enunciation, IPM is recognized as one of the most robust constructs to arise in the agricultural sciences during the second half of the twentieth century. The history of IPM, however, can be traced back to the late 1800s when ecology was identified as the foundation for scientific plant protection. That history, since the advent of modern organosynthetic pesticides, acquired elements of drama, intrigue, jealousy, and controversy that mark the path of many great scientific or technological achievements. Evolution of IPM followed multiple paths in several countries and reached beyond the confines of entomological sciences. Time and space constraints, however, bias this review toward entomology, among the plant protection sciences, and give it an obvious US slant, despite the global impact of IPM.

Integrated pest management: historical perspectives and contemporary developments.

The idea of using species-specific behavior-modifying chemicals for the management of noxious insects in agriculture, horticulture, forestry, stored products, and for insect vectors of diseases has been a driving ambition through five decades of pheromone research. Hundreds of pheromones and other semiochemicals have been discovered that are used to monitor the presence and abundance of insects and to protect plants and animals against insects. The estimated annual production of lures for monitoring and mass trapping is on the order of tens of millions, covering at least 10 million hectares. Insect populations are controlled by air permeation and attract-and-kill techniques on at least 1 million hectares. Here, we review the most important and widespread practical applications. Pheromones are increasingly efficient at low population densities, they do not adversely affect natural enemies, and they can, therefore, bring about a long-term reduction in insect populations that cannot be accomplished with conventional insecticides. A changing climate with higher growing season temperatures and altered rainfall patterns makes control of native and invasive insects an increasingly urgent challenge. Intensified insecticide use will not provide a solution, but pheromones and other semiochemicals instead can be implemented for sustainable area-wide management and will thus improve food security for a growing population. Given the scale of the challenges we face to mitigate the impacts of climate change, the time is right to intensify goal-oriented interdisciplinary research on semiochemicals, involving chemists, entomologists, and plant protection experts, in order to provide the urgently needed, and cost-effective technical solutions for sustainable insect management worldwide.

Sex pheromones and their impact on pest management.

https://www.fabinet.up.ac.za/publication/pdfs/2509-lacey_et_al_2001.pdf

Insect Pathogens as Biological Control Agents: Do They Have a Future?

10. Damage by Aphids. The Responses of Plants to the Feeding of Aphidoidea: Principles. The Responses of Plants to the Feeding of Aphidoidea: Specific Responses and Damage (P.W. Miles). Crop Loss Assessment (P.W. Wellings et al.). Viruses Transmitted by Aphids (E.S. Sylvester). 11. Control of Aphids. Chemical Control: Introduction. Chemical Control to Reduce Damage. Chemical Control to Reduce Virus Diseases (A. Schepers). Aphid Resistance to Insecticides (A.L. Devonshire, A.D. Rice). Biological Control: Introduction (M. Carver). Biological Control in the Open Field (R.D. Hughes). Biological Control in Greenhouses (P.M.J. Ramakers). Modifying Aphid Behaviour (R.W. Gibson, A.D. Rice). Host Plant Resistance (J.L. Auclair). Integrated Control (P. Harrewijn et al.).

Aphids: Their Biology, Natural Enemies and Control

Male moths generally find their mates by following the females' pheromone plume to its source. A formulated copy of this message is used to regulate mating of many important pests, including the pink bollworm (Pectinophora gossypiella), the oriental fruit moth (Grapholita molesta), and the tomato pinworm (Keiferia lycopersicella). How synthetic disruptant interrupts normal orientation is uncertain, but the most probable mechanisms invoke adaptation and habituation, competition between point sources of formulation and females, and a camouflage of a female's pheromone plume by the formulation. The efficacy of this technology is related principally to the motility of mated females into the area to be managed, the initial population levels of the pest, and the release characteristics of the formulation. In most cases, implementation of this technology necessitates a sophisticated monitoring and management program. Area-wide management schemes are ideal vehicles for using disruptants. Future acceptance of this...

CONTROL OF MOTH PESTS BY MATING DISRUPTION: Successes and Constraints

Termites grasshoppers bugs aphids scale insects sawflies beetles (forest, crops and postharvest) midges fruit flies predators parasitoids bees.

A. K. Minks

Papers

Aphids: Their Biology, Natural Enemies and Control

CONTROL OF MOTH PESTS BY MATING DISRUPTION: Successes and Constraints

Pheromones of Non-Lepidopteran Insects Associated with Agricultural Plants

Insect Pheromone Research: New Directions

Insect Pheromone Research