Entomology 10

Pest Management Strategies

  1. Introduction
    1. Problems with chemical pesticides
    2. Before synthetic pesticides, many other strategies available
    3. Present strategies -- Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
  2. Regulatory Control
    1. Quarantine
      1. Limit movement of pests
      2. Inspection at borders, airport, harbors
      3. Effective with cooperation of public
    2. Eradication - eliminate pest from a geographic area
      1. Successes
        1. Mediterranean fruit fly in Florida, California (?)
        2. Gypsy moth in California
        3. Japanese beetle in California
      2. Failures
        1. Imported fire ants in Southeast US
        2. Apple maggot in California
        3. Fruit flies in Hawaii
    3. Containment - limit spread of pests within a geographic area; effective against pest with little mobility or where effective control methods occur.
    4. Suppression - reduce pest populations over a wide geographic area. Coordinated by state or federal agencies.
  3. Plant Resistance
    1. Antibiosis -- adversely affects the biology of phytophagous insects.
      Includes toxins, growth inhibitors, high concentrations of indigestible plant components (tannins)
    2. Antixenosis -- poor host, deters feeding by insect.
      Includes repellents and deterrents; thick foliage; pubescence.
    3. Tolerance - plant grows and reproduces normally while supporting the insect population that would be damaging to a susceptible host.
    4. Break resistance - natural selection
      1. Insects overcome resistant mechanism
      2. New resistant varieties needed
      3. Genetic engineering (transgenic plants) may speed discovery of new varieties or incorporation of toxin genes
        1. Bacillus thuringiensis toxin genes
        2. Cotton with genes - approved for release
        3. Resistance -- How to manage?
  4. Mechanical and Physical Control
    1. Non-chemical and non-biological methods to destroy pests or make environment unsuitable for pest survival.
    2. Mechanical control
      1. Hand-picking, fly swatter
      2. Sifting out insects
    3. Physical control
      1. Cold storage of fruit
      2. Packaging
      3. Low relative humidity
      4. Light traps
      5. Wrapping fruits on trees.
  5. Cultural Control
    1. Tillage (soil preparation)
    2. Sanitation
    3. Time of planting
    4. Time of harvest
    5. Water management
    6. Crop rotation or polyculture
    7. Host free period
  6. Pheromones (Modification of Behavior)
    1. Sex pheromones - used for monitoring
    2. Mass trapping (attraction-annihilation)
    3. Mating disruption ("Confusion") technique
  7. Genetics and Sterility
    1. Sterile male technique (autocidal control) - use of sterile insect release to control insects
    2. Use radiation to sterilize insects or use sterile mutant
    3. Screw worm program
    4. Mediterranean fruit fly (Medfly) program
  8. Biological Control (Separate Lecture)
  9. Chemical control (Separate Lecture)

Gullan and Cranston. Read pages 426-431.

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