Journal of Pest Science最新文献

The invasion of Hyphantria cunea, also known as “smokeless fires”, poses a significant threat to artificial and natural forest resources. Therefore, it is urgent to adopt safe and effective control strategies to prevent the spread of and harm caused by of H. cunea. In this study, potential repellent active ingredients were screened from the volatiles of Larix gmelinii and Syringa oblata, the non-preferred hosts of H. cunea. The sensitive substances were identified in the H. cunea larvae and adults through electroantennographic (EAG) and behavioral responses. The results showed that fresh branches with leaves of L. gmelinii and S. oblata had significant repellent effects on the fifth and 6th instar larvae and virgin females, which were mainly related to α-pinene and (+)-limonene and other volatile substances. 100 μL/mL α-pinene and (+)-limonene were found to significantly stimulate the olfactory nervous system of H. cunea virgin females and male adults, and could induce significant EAG responses. They could induce avoidance behavior of 4-6th instar larvae, virgin females, and male adults, and also inhibit the selection behavior of fifth and 6th instar larvae and adults to Salix matsudana, the preferred food host. So α-pinene and (+)-limonene can be used as repellents for larvae and adults of H. cunea, with an effective concentration of 100 μL/mL. The two terpenes can induce avoidance behavior of H. cunea during the larval feeding period and before the mating of adults, thus inhibiting the outbreak and spread of the pest, providing an important control strategy for the integrated management of H. cunea.

In the ongoing pursuit of sustainable farming techniques, the constant fight against aphids remains an essential frontier. Aphids are well-known agricultural pests and they continue to jeopardize global crop production, necessitating an immediate demand for sustainable pest control methods. Conventional chemical insecticides not only harm the quality of crops but also cause environmental damage. This comprehensive review starts with a meta-analysis using PRISMA approach, to present innovative, environmentally friendly alternative technologies, the latest developments and advances in aphid control that can reduce pressure on the environment and contribute to a more sustainable aphid control. Good alternative technologies include bioengineered nanoparticles, RNAi and CRISPR/Cas9. In addition, there has been progress in the existing use of natural enemies with parasitoids and predators with increased efficacy, as well as the area of microbial control of aphids with entomopathogenic fungi and bacteria. Because monitoring is very important and a cornerstone of integrated pest management, the latest advances in artificial intelligence and deep learning in aphid control are helping to reduce pressure on the environment and contribute to a reduction in the use of chemicals, supporting the preservation of biodiversity and sustainability, which fits with the policy in many continents. Altogether, this paper aims to provide a valuable guidance for researchers, practitioners and policymakers who are involved in the complex dynamics of aphid control in agriculture.

With the rollback of insecticides, novel tools for pest control are urgently needed. Aphids are particularly a major concern with few sustainable control alternatives. Ecological intensification has been promoted as a way of “inviting" back nature’s self-regulating abilities into agricultural production systems. Although such measures enhance the presence of natural enemies in agroecosystems, we demonstrate that in an ecologically intensified apple orchard, biocontrol of rosy apple aphid was minimal. We verified why the biodiverse settings did not result in enhanced ecosystem services, i.e., biological control of the rosy apple aphid. Close monitoring of food–web interactions in thousands of aphid colonies showed that tending ants dominated responses, while those of natural enemies were weak or absent. However, application of artificial aphid honeydew diverted ants from tending aphids and flipped the myrmecophily-dominated state into favoring numerical responses of a guild of natural enemies. Responses were swift and controlled both Aphis pomi and Dysaphis plantaginea, provided intervention was synced with aphid and predator phenology. Although myrmecophily in aphids is well-known on its own accord, it has been completely overlooked in ecological intensification. To unlock the aphid-biocontrol potential provided through ecological intensification, myrmecophily needs to be disrupted. Although particularly true for perennial systems, generally practices that reduce soil disturbance favor ants and may amplify aphid pests, thereby reducing biocontrol impacts in ecological intensification efforts. Harnessing ecosystem services requires careful analysis and good understanding of agroecosystem intricacies.

In response to growing concerns regarding the adverse environmental and health effects of synthetic pesticides, there has been a notable surge in the demand for plant-based bioinsecticides. Botanicals and essential oils (EOs) are emerging as promising alternatives that offer a safer and more sustainable approach to pest management. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of these natural insecticides is often hindered by their inherent instability under environmental conditions, high volatility, and susceptibility to thermal decomposition, which necessitates frequent reapplication and diminishes their practical utility. To address these challenges, innovative formulation strategies such as nanoemulsions, microemulsions, nanoencapsulation, and microencapsulation have been developed. These advanced approaches facilitate controlled release, enhance stability, and significantly improve the efficacy of botanical- and EO-based insecticides. By providing target-specific action, these formulations not only reduce the frequency of applications and lower dosage requirements but also minimize environmental contamination and enhance overall pest management efficiency. This review offers a comprehensive exploration of these advanced formulations, including the preparation and characterization of nano-/microemulsion and nano-/microencapsulate systems and the technical challenges associated with their characterization. This manuscript examines the efficacy of these formulations in pest management, focusing on their physical and chemical stability under various storage conditions. Additionally, it addressed the impact of these formulations on nontarget organisms and their potential phytotoxicity. Despite the promising results observed in controlled settings, there is a notable lack of field studies evaluating the suitability of these formulations for different crops and their effectiveness in diverse agricultural environments. This identified gap underscores the necessity for further research to validate the practical application of these technologies. This review also discusses the scalability and cost-effectiveness of these advanced formulations, providing insights into their potential for broader commercial adoption.

The fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) is an important pest of maize, and a key target of transgenic crops expressing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) insecticidal proteins. These exert a strong selective pressure, so susceptible plants (refuges) are planted together with the transgenic seed to lower such pressure. The system favored in North America is to mix Bt and non-Bt seed (refuge-in-a-bag, or RIB). However, South American farmers favor structured refuges, interplanting rows of Bt and non-Bt seed. Yet, the proportion of susceptible maize must be minimized to prevent yield losses, and flight distance before mating is considered the best way to gauge the adequate distance between non-Bt rows in structured refuges, which has been estimated through mark–release–recapture experiments. The aim of this study was to compare three marking techniques and three trapping systems in laboratory and field experiments. Results suggest conventional marking techniques were not completely innocuous to the moths. UV traps drastically overrode the effect of synthetic and natural pheromones, suggesting they may not reflect normal dispersion behaviors. Marking experiments may not provide reliable measures of flight distance, and although farmers tend to resist the RIB option the data suggests it should be enforced.

Coffee leaf miner (CLM) Leucoptera coffeella stands out as a primary insect pest of arabica coffee plants in some regions of Brazil. Coffee breeding for CLM-resistance has used the species Coffea racemosa as gene donor for C. arabica, resulting in the development of the resistant commercial hybrid ‘Siriema AS1’. However, no previous study has characterized the resistance type, and whether there is variation in the levels expressed in progenies of ‘Siriema’ to CLM. This study aimed to characterize the type, by antixenosis or antibiosis, and the levels of resistance in segregating progenies of ‘Siriema’ plants to CLM. Experiments were conducted under laboratory conditions with artificial infestation of CLM adults in oviposition cages, where dual-choice preference assays compared each tested ‘Siriema’ progeny with the susceptible commercial cv. Arara (C. arabica). A follow-up no-choice assay evaluated five selected ‘Siriema’ progenies on the development of CLM compared to cv. Arara. As main results, ‘Siriema’ progenies were equally susceptible to CLM oviposition, and were overall stimulant relative to cv. Arara. However, there was low CLM larval survival and injury intensity on the selected ‘Siriema’ genotypes, indicating moderate levels of antibiosis-resistance, while cv. Arara and one ‘Siriema’ progeny were moderately susceptible. These findings further our understanding on the type and levels of resistance in ‘Siriema’ genotypes, aiding in the development of resistant coffee hybrids and deployment of management strategies to CLM.

Frankliniella intonsa (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) is a significant invasive pest that can damage numerous plants and crops and spread the tomato spotted wilt virus. During the sunflower flowering period in the primary sunflower production area in China, F. intonsa-infested sunflower heads produce kernels with marked visual damage, including peel scratches, which reduce seed quality and profitability. In this study, the behavioral responses of F. intonsa to buckwheat and sunflowers were measured in a Y-tube. Meanwhile, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was performed to determine the volatile components of inflorescences of both sunflower and buckwheat and the behavioral effects of these components were evaluated on F. intonsa in a Y-tube. The results revealed that sunflower leaves significantly repelled adults and nymphs of F. intonsa both in olfactometer bioassays. However, F. intonsa was significantly attracted by the volatiles from the leaves and flowers of buckwheat. Interestingly, F. intonsa adults preferred sunflower flowers over buckwheat flowers. Among the four kinds of sunflower flower volatiles selected, F. intonsa was attracted by two kinds of volatiles (γ-terpinene and (R)-( +)-limonene), while one volatile (β-pinene) had the effect of repelling F. intonsa, while among the four selected buckwheat flower volatiles, F. intonsa were attracted by three kinds of volatiles (α-caryophyllene, verbenone, octane). Finally, the field-trapping effect of buckwheat on F. intonsa was verified by a sunflower-buckwheat intercropping experiment. The results of this study provide a theoretical basis for the feasibility of intercropping with buckwheat and sunflower to control F. intonsa. Thus, buckwheat can be used as a trapping plant in fields to prevent F. intonsa invasion.

The stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans, is a globally important pest causing stress, economic losses and transmission of pathogens in livestock. Control on commercial farms relies predominantly on the use of insecticides, with pyrethroids being the most frequently used class of insecticides in industrialised countries. Here, laboratory isolates were obtained from four dairy farms in Brandenburg (Germany) and tested for phenotypic resistance to deltamethrin in comparison to a susceptible reference isolate using topical application. Individual flies were subsequently genotyped using allele-specific real-time PCRs. Phenotypic resistance was observed in all four field isolates with resistance ratios between 46 and 119 compared to the susceptible laboratory strain. At position 1014 of the voltage-sensitive sodium channel, allele-specific PCRs detected the wild-type, kdr-his and kdr genotypes encoding leucine, histidine and phenylalanine, respectively. In the susceptible laboratory isolate, only the wild-type was identified. On the farms with very high LD₅₀ values, the kdr variant was most prevalent and logistic regression analysis revealed that the kdr variant increased the odds to survive exposure to deltamethrin more than the kdr-his genotype. Flies carrying two resistance alleles were less susceptible than flies that also carried one wild-type allele. In three out of four field isolates, the allele frequencies were significantly different from the expectations of the Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium suggesting ongoing selection. The data show that the phenotype can be largely explained by the kdr genotype and represent high frequencies of the L1014F kdr and L1014H kdr-his variants conferring high levels of resistance in northern Germany.

Due to their potential role in pathogen transmission, invasive mosquitoes pose considerable threats to human and animal health. Several studies have identified the most important ecological drivers mediating the establishment and spread of key mosquito species (e.g., Aedes aegypti, and Ae. albopictus), and made predictions for future distribution. We evaluated the effect of an exhaustive list of environmental predictors on the distribution of three invasive species in Hungary (Ae. albopictus, Ae. japonicus, and Ae. koreicus) by using the same standards for data collection based on citizen science observations. Current distribution maps of these species were generated from a 5-year survey, then were compared with various predictor maps reflecting climate, habitat type, food supply, traffic, and interspecific competition by using a boosted regression trees approach that resulted in a subset of variables with the strongest impact. The best predictor sets were used to predict the probability of occurrence of the focal species for the whole country, and these predictions based on citizen science were evaluated against the results of an independent recent field surveillance. We uncovered species-specific patterns and found that different predictor sets were selected for the three different species, and only predictions for Ae. albopictus could be validated with direct trapping data. Therefore, citizen science informed distribution maps can be used to identify ecological predictors that determine the spread of invasive mosquitoes, and to estimate risk based on the predicted distribution in the case of Ae. albopictus.

The Fall Armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, invaded China late in 2018 and was responsible for substantial crop losses, especially to maize. This work focuses on the suitability of climate across China for Fall Armyworm survival and spread. It uses climate metrics derived with guidance from experts to enable assessment of the risks posed by Fall Armyworm on maize production in different regions of China. The locations and time of year when temperature conditions are within a viable range for Fall Armyworm survival (minimum temperature higher than 9.7(^circ)C and maximum temperature lower than 39.2(^circ)C) are used to estimate the spatial distribution of winter breeding and overwintering zones, which helps understand the regions and timing of Fall Armyworm migration risk into northern maize production regions. In addition, meridional wind conditions across the Yangtze River basin area are assessed, and a metric of migration potential from the winter breeding and overwintering regions in the south towards northern regions with maize production is established. Results show that temperature during the winter months currently limits Fall Armyworm winter breeding populations to the very southern regions of China (and bordering countries to the south). However, due to the consistent timing and direction of the East Asian Summer Monsoon winds, the Fall Armyworm could easily be directed northwards to the Yangtze River basin during summer months with a peak in July. For this reason, pest management actions against the Fall Armyworm on summer maize should be taken.