Abstract
Nowadays, we are tackling various issues related to the overuse of synthetic insecticides. Growing concerns about biodiversity, animal and human welfare, and food security are pushing agriculture toward a more sustainable approach, and research is moving in this direction, looking for environmentally friendly alternatives to be adopted in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) protocols. In this regard, inert dusts, especially diatomaceous earths (DEs), hold a significant promise to prevent and control a wide range of arthropod pests. DEs are a type of naturally occurring soft siliceous sedimentary rock, consisting of the fossilized exoskeleton of unicellular algae, which are called diatoms. Mainly adopted for the control of stored product pests, DEs have found also their use against some household insects living in a dry environment, such as bed bugs, or insects of agricultural interest. In this article, we reported a comprehensive review of the use of DEs against different arthropod pest taxa, such as Acarina, Blattodea, Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Ixodida, Lepidoptera, when applied either alone or in combination with other techniques. The mechanisms of action of DEs, their real-world applications, and challenges related to their adoption in IPM programs are critically reported.
Highlights
Among different types of inert materials currently adopted in pest control, diatomaceous earths (DEs) hold a prominent position, as they are apparently the most often tested material for this purpose
Arthur [44] stated that an insecticide formulation (F2) containing 0.03% deltamethrin, 0.37% piperonyl butoxide, 0.95% chlorpyriphos-methyl, 10% mineral oil, and 88% Protect-It® was extremely effective in wheat, maize, and paddy rice at the rate of 100 ppm against S. oryzae, S. zeamais, R. dominica and T. castaneum
The need to gradually withdraw from the chemical-based pesticide policies to more sustainable and ecological approaches is, at the present, one of the most challenging aspects of pest management
Summary
Among different types of inert materials currently adopted in pest control, diatomaceous earths (DEs) hold a prominent position, as they are apparently the most often tested material for this purpose. DEs are used for the management of insects and other arthropods, but they have multiple uses including the control of different pathogens, such as fungi and bacteria [1,2,3,4]. Diatoms are unicellular eukaryotic algae that are characterized by an external skeleton (frustule) rich in silicon dioxide whose fossilized remains constitute DEs [1,2,8]. These diatoms are abundant either in fresh-water or marine environments, but they are present in terrestrial ecosystems. The present review provides a focus on the utilization of DEs to manage different arthropod pest categories when applied either alone or in combination with other techniques
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