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.

Semiochemical-based pest management programs comprise three major approaches that are being used to provide environmentally friendly control methods of insect pests: mass trapping, "lure and kill," and mating disruption. In this article, we review the potential of mass trapping in long-term pest management as well as in the eradication of invasive species. We discuss similarities and differences between mass trapping and other two main approaches of semiochemical-based pest management programs. We highlight several study cases where mass trapping has been used either in long-term pest management (e.g., codling moth,Cydiapomonella (L.); pink bollworm,Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders); bark beetles, palm weevils, corn rootworms (Diabrotica spp.); and fruit sies) or in eradication of invasive species (e.g., gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar (L.); and boll weevil, Anthonomus grandis grandis Boheman). We list the critical issues that affect the efÞcacy of mass trapping and compare these with previously published models developed to investigate mass trapping efÞcacy in pest control. We conclude that mass trapping has good potential to suppress or eradicate low-density, isolated pest populations; however, its full potential in pest management has not been adequately realized and therefore encourages further research and development of this technology.

/pdf/potential-of-mass-trapping-for-long-term-pest-management-and-4en1nmnzpp.pdf

Potential of Mass Trapping for Long-Term Pest Management and Eradication of Invasive Species

The red palm weevil (RPW) Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier), a concealed tissue borer, is a lethal pest of palms and is reported to attack 17 palm species worldwide. Although the weevil was first reported on coconut Cocos nucifera from South Asia, during the last two decades it has gained a foothold on date palm Phoenix dactylifera in several Middle Eastern countries from where it has moved to Africa and Europe, mainly due to the movement of infested planting material. In the Mediterranean region, RPW also severely damages Phoenix canariensis. Currently, the pest is reported in c. 15% of the coconut-growing countries and in nearly 50% of the date palm-growing countries. Infested palms, if not detected early and treated, often die. However, palms in the early stages of attack respond to chemical treatment with insecticide. RPW has been managed in several countries employing an integrated pest management (IPM) strategy including the use of food-baited pheromone traps. Early detection of infestation in the field is important for the success of any RPW-IPM programme. Ideally, movement of planting material from infested plantations within the country and also from one country to another needs to be stopped. Wherever this is not possible, it is essential to implement strict pre- and post-entry quarantine regimes, wherein only pest-free and certified planting material can be transported. The existing pheromone-based IPM programme can be strengthened by intensifying the search for effective natural enemies, coupled with the introduction of resistance in palms to RPW. This article reviews the work done during the last 100 years on various aspects of RPW viz. life history, damage and symptoms of attack, seasonal activity, spatial distribution, host range, IPM and its main components, including trapping adult weevils and chemical control, besides biological control, host plant resistance and male sterile technique.

A review of the issues and management of the red palm weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Coleoptera: Rhynchophoridae) in coconut and date palm during the last one hundred years

We present herein a review article of the latest developments of the biorational approaches in pest management appeared in the literature from 1997 to date. The proposed advantages of the biopesticides including their specificity, safety to non-target organisms, particularly mammals, and utilization in low, sometimes minute, amounts have led to an intensive research program by public and private institutions resulting in an avalanche of reports in attempts to discover and develop newer and safer pesticides, particularly in the past three decades. This review is divided into three main chapters, including microbial insecticides in pest control, utilization of semiochemicals, and botanical insecticides, paying particular attention to those practical approaches that are respectful to the environment.

https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jpestics/33/2/33_R08-01/_pdf

Biorational insecticides in pest management

This review summarizes the current knowledge on the distribution, natural history, economic importance and management of 16 major species of date palm pests in Israel. Another 15, rarely occurring, pest species are also identified. Research on the date palm pests in Israel was initiated against a background of severe outbreaks of scale insects in the late 1950s. These outbreaks were caused mainly by unrestrained use of organophosphates. This situation led to the gradual development of an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program, which was implemented first against scale insects and later against fruit pests. The IMP approach resulted in successful control of the scale insects, up to the present, whereas agrotechnical and crop management procedures, including covering the fruit bunches with plastic nets and early harvesting of several date cultivars, were successfully applied to achieve efficient control of the fruit moths. In addition, the use of chemical compounds in date plantations was drastically reduced and restricted to heavy foci of pest infestation. In time, microbial control, mainly application ofBacillus thuringiensis products against the lesser date moth, and the use of pheromone traps for monitoring and controlling red palm weevil, enabled further reductions in the use of synthetic insecticides. The overall change in pest management also significantly improved the preservation of natural enemies of the pests in the plantations. Whereas in the 1950s the major problems were caused by the parlatoria date scale and the green scale, in the early 2000s the key pests in date plantations in Israel are the lesser date moth and sap beetles in most of the date-growing areas, and spider mites which are restricted to the Arava Valley. Future management of the first two of these pests should rely on an improved monitoring system and integration of pheromone application for reduction of the population and damage. Efforst should be made to prevent the red palm weevil, which currently is a potential pest, from becoming an actual key pest in date plantations.

Review: Date palm arthropod pests and their management in Israel

The red palm weevilRhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier) (RPW) is the most serious pest of date palms in the Middle East. Weevil infestation was first detected in Israel in the summer of 1999 in date plantations in the Jordan Valley, on the west bank of the Jordan River and in the northern area of the Dead Sea. For 2 years following the discovery of the pest, prophylactic insecticide chemical treatments as well as adult weevil trapping were carried out over 450 ha of date palm plantations. Traps loaded with a commercial aggregation pheromone, ferrugineol, supplemented with ethyl acetate and a fermenting mixture of dates and sugarcane molasses, were posted in high trap density (approx. ten traps per ha) in order to monitor weevil infestation and reduce the RPW population by mass trapping. A significant decrease in number of trapped beetles and infested trees was observed in 2001 and continued in the following years. No infested trees have been found since 2002, indicating a decrease in RPW population. The sex ratio of trapped adults during 3 years of study was significantly female-biased (∼2.5:1). Therefore, mass trapping might have played a significant role in the suppression of RPW populations in date plantations.

S. Reneh

Papers

Current Status of Red Palm Weevil Infestation in Date Palm Plantations in Israel