▪ Abstract Many agroecosystems are unfavorable environments for natural enemies due to high levels of disturbance. Habitat management, a form of conservation biological control, is an ecologically based approach aimed at favoring natural enemies and enhancing biological control in agricultural systems. The goal of habitat management is to create a suitable ecological infrastructure within the agricultural landscape to provide resources such as food for adult natural enemies, alternative prey or hosts, and shelter from adverse conditions. These resources must be integrated into the landscape in a way that is spatially and temporally favorable to natural enemies and practical for producers to implement. The rapidly expanding literature on habitat management is reviewed with attention to practices for favoring predators and parasitoids, implementation of habitat management, and the contributions of modeling and ecological theory to this developing area of conservation biological control. The potential to int...

Habitat Management to Conserve Natural Enemies of Arthropod Pests in Agriculture

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A User’s Guide

What is ecological speciation

▪ Abstract This review covers selected literature from 1982 to the present on some of the ecological, behavioral, and biochemical aspects of hydrocarbon use by insects and other arthropods. Major ecological and behavioral topics are species- and gender-recognition, nestmate recognition, task-specific cues, dominance and fertility cues, chemical mimicry, and primer pheromones. Major biochemical topics include chain length regulation, mechanism of hydrocarbon formation, timing of hydrocarbon synthesis and transport, and biosynthesis of volatile hydrocarbon pheromones of Lepidoptera and Coleoptera. In addition, a section is devoted to future research needs in this rapidly growing area of science.

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Ecological, behavioral, and biochemical aspects of insect hydrocarbons*

Sperm are produced in astronomical numbers compared with eggs, and there is good evidence that sperm competition is the force behind the evolution of many tiny sperm. However, sperm production inevitably has costs. Recent research shows that male ejaculate expenditure is dynamic in both time and space, and that males are sensitive to risks of sperm competition and can vary ejaculate size accordingly. We focus on studies showing that males assess mating status and relative fecundity of females, and reveal that modulation of ejaculate investment by males can sometimes result in sperm limitation for females.

Sperm competition, male prudence and sperm-limited females

Research since 2004 has shown that the use of volatile attractants and pheromones is widespread in the large beetle family Cerambycidae, with pheromones now identified from more than 100 species, and likely pheromones for many more. The pheromones identified to date from species in the subfamilies Cerambycinae, Spondylidinae, and Lamiinae are all male-produced aggregation-sex pheromones that attract both sexes, whereas all known examples for species in the subfamilies Prioninae and Lepturinae are female-produced sex pheromones that attract only males. Here, we summarize the chemistry of the known pheromones, and the optimal methods for their collection, analysis, and synthesis. Attraction of cerambycids to host plant volatiles, interactions between their pheromones and host plant volatiles, and the implications of pheromone chemistry for invasion biology are discussed. We also describe optimized traps, lures, and operational parameters for practical applications of the pheromones in detection, sampling, and management of cerambycids.

Sex and Aggregation-Sex Pheromones of Cerambycid Beetles: Basic Science and Practical Applications.

Preface. 1. Preparation, Cleanup, and Preliminary Fractionation of Extracts J.G. Millar, J.J. Sims. 2. Liquid Chromatography J.G. Millar. 3. Analytical and Preparative Gas Chromatography R.R. Heath, B.D. Dueben. 4. Mass Spectrometry F.X. Webster, J.G. MIllar, D.J. Kiemle. 5. Structure Elucidation by NMR F.X. Webster, D.J. Kiemle. 6. Infrared and Ultraviolet Spectroscopy Techniques W.S. Leal. 7. Microchemical Techniques A.B. Attygalle. 8. Separation of Enantiomers and Determination of Absolute Configuration K. Mori. 9. Electrophysiological Methods L.B. Bjostad. Appendix: List of Names and Addresses of Suppliers. Index.

Methods in chemical ecology

The sex pheromone of the vine mealybug Planococcus ficus Signoret has been identified as a single component, lavandulyl senecioate. Racemic lavandulyl senecioate was as attractive to male mealybugs as the insect-produced (S)-enantiomer, indicating that the unnatural enantiomer is not inhibitory. Lavandulol, which also was found in extracts from virgin females, antagonized attraction of males at higher doses. Rubber septum lures loaded with 10- to 1,000-μg doses of the pheromone were equally attractive, and lures loaded with 100 μg of racemic pheromone remained attractive for at least 12 wk under field conditions. Delta traps were more effective than double-sided sticky cards and minimized captures of nontarget insects. Pheromone-baited traps had an effective range of at least 50 m. Comparison of visual sampling methods and sampling of males with pheromone-baited traps revealed that trap catches were significantly correlated with the results from visual sampling methods, and with economic damage.

https://bioone.org/journals/journal-of-economic-entomology/volume-95/issue-4/0022-0493-95.4.706/Development-and-Optimization-of-Methods-for-Using-Sex-Pheromone-for/10.1603/0022-0493-95.4.706.pdf

Development and optimization of methods for using sex pheromone for monitoring the mealybug Planococcus ficus (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae) in California vineyards.

The vine mealybug is a newly invasive pest that has spread throughout California's extensive grape-growing regions. Researchers are investigating new control tools to be used in combination with or as an alternative to standard organophosphate insecticide controls. Insect growth regulators and nicotine-based insecticides provide good alternative pesticides for use in some vineyards. Ongoing studies on the augmentative release of natural enemies and mating disruption also show promise, but commercial products are not yet available to growers.

/pdf/new-controls-investigated-for-vine-mealybug-1ijfwdpx53.pdf

New controls investigated for vine mealybug

The direct management of insect pests using pheromones for mating disruption, or “attract and kill” approaches, can provide excellent suppression of key lepidopteran pests in agriculture. Important successes to date include codling moth in pome fruit, oriental fruit moth in peaches and nectarines, tomato pinworm in vegetables, pink bollworm in cotton and omnivorous leafroller in vineyards. Large-scale implementation projects have yielded significant reductions in pesticide use while maintaining acceptably low crop-damage levels. Because of some difficulties with high populations of pests, these programs should not be viewed as stand-alone strategies but rather as one tactic within a suite of integrated pest management options.

http://calag.ucanr.edu/download_pdf.cfm?article=ca.v059n01p16

Jocelyn G. Millar

Papers

Sex and Aggregation-Sex Pheromones of Cerambycid Beetles: Basic Science and Practical Applications.

Methods in chemical ecology

Development and optimization of methods for using sex pheromone for monitoring the mealybug Planococcus ficus (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae) in California vineyards.

New controls investigated for vine mealybug

Pheromone mating disruption offers selective management options for key pests