Abstract
The increased urbanization of a growing global population makes imperative the development of sustainable integrated pest management (IPM) strategies for urban pest control. This emphasizes pests that are closely associated with the health and wellbeing of humans and domesticated animals. Concurrently there are regulatory requirements enforced to minimize inadvertent exposures to insecticides in the urban environment. Development of insecticide resistance management (IRM) strategies in urban ecosystems involves understanding the status and mechanisms of insecticide resistance and reducing insecticide selection pressure by combining multiple chemical and non-chemical approaches. In this review, we will focus on the commonly used insecticides and molecular and physiological mechanisms underlying insecticide resistance in six major urban insect pests: house fly, German cockroach, mosquitoes, red flour beetle, bed bugs and head louse. We will also discuss several strategies that may prove promising for future urban IPM programs.
Highlights
Entomologists face a diverse set of challenges to help protect humans and domesticated animals from urban insect pests
Most residents of structures in urban settings are reluctant to cohabitate with insects and tend to anticipate complete eradication of pests in their dwellings, especially the medically and structurally important urban pests, the control of which contributes to a high degree of insecticide dependency [5]
In order to design more sustainable insecticide resistance management (IRM) strategies, it is essential to identify the insecticides applied for urban pest control and to gain a complete understanding of the phenotypic and genotypic mechanisms underlying resistance developed by the pests
Summary
Entomologists face a diverse set of challenges to help protect humans and domesticated animals from urban insect pests. Entomologists will be tasked with developing sustainable practices to effectively control the urban insect pests that are closely associated with the health and quality of life for humans and domesticated animals. Integrated pest management (IPM) was initially developed in the 1950s to promote a concerted use of chemical and biological approaches for pest control [2]. IPM has become a fundamental strategy of sustainable agricultural arthropod pest management in developed and developing countries [3]. Most residents of structures in urban settings are reluctant to cohabitate with insects and tend to anticipate complete eradication of pests in their dwellings, especially the medically and structurally important urban pests, the control of which contributes to a high degree of insecticide dependency [5]. We will discuss several promising approaches that prove suitable for inclusion in future urban IPM programs
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