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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stoneville, Mississippi » Southern Insect Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #383513
Research Project: Insect Control and Resistance Management in Corn, Cotton, Sorghum, Soybean, and Sweet Potato, and Alternative Approaches to Tarnished Plant Bug Control in the Southern United States

Location: Southern Insect Management Research

Title: Latest developments in insect sex pheromone research and its application in agricultural pest management

Author
item RIZVI, SYED - National Agricultural Research Center - Pakistan
item George, Justin
item Reddy, Gadi V.P.
item ZENG, XINNIAN - South China Agricultural Univerisity
item GUERRERO, ANGEL - Institute Of Advanced Chemistry Of Catalonia(CSIC)

Submitted to: Insects
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/20/2021
Publication Date: 5/23/2021
Citation: Rizvi, S., George, J., Reddy, G.V., Zeng, X., Guerrero, A. 2021. Latest developments in insect sex pheromone research and its application in agricultural pest management. Insects. 12(6):484. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects12060484.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/insects12060484

Interpretive Summary: Insect pheromones are specific natural compounds that meet modern pest control requirements, i.e., species-specificity, lack of toxicity to mammals, environmentally benign and a component for IPM of agricultural pests. Therefore, practical application of insect pheromones, particularly sex pheromones, have had a tremendous success in controlling low density pest populations, and long-term reduction in pest populations with minimal impact on their natural enemies. Mass trapping and mating disruption strategies using sex pheromones have significantly reduced the use of conventional insecticides, thereby providing sustainable and ecofriendly pest management in agricultural crops. In this review, we have summarized the latest developments in sex pheromone research, mechanisms of sex pheromone perception and its practical application in agricultural pest management.

Technical Abstract: Since the first identification of the silkworm moth sex pheromone in 1959, significant research has been reported on identification and unravelling the sex pheromone mechanisms of hundreds of insect species. In the past two decades, the number of research studies on new insect pheromones, pheromone biosynthesis, mode of action, peripheral olfactory and neural mechanisms, and their practical applications in integrated pest management has increased dramatically. An interdisciplinary approach that uses the advances and new techniques in analytical chemistry, chemical ecology, neurophysiology, genetics, evolutionary and molecular biology has helped us to better understand the pheromone perception mechanisms and its practical application in agricultural pest management. In this review, we present the most recent developments in pheromone research and its application in the past two decades.