Abstract
Simple SummaryInsect 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 the Integrated Pest Management of agricultural pests. Therefore, the 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 summarize the latest developments in sex pheromone research, mechanisms of sex pheromone perception, and its practical application in agricultural pest management.Since the first identification of the silkworm moth sex pheromone in 1959, significant research has been reported on identifying 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, and 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.
Highlights
Sex pheromones are chemical signals emitted by an organism that elicit a sexual response in a member of the opposite sex of the same species [1,2]
We present an update of the latest developments of insect sex pheromones reported as useful, environmentally benign, tools for the management of agricultural pests in integrated pest management (IPM) programs including the mechanisms of pheromone perception, interactions with biological control agents, autodetection, and resistance
These findings show that, in nature, sex pheromone and plant odors are perceived as an ensemble, and mating and habitat cues are coded as blends in the macroglomerular complex (MGC) of the antennal lobe (AL) highlighting the dual role of plant signals in habitat selection and in premating sexual communication [120]
Summary
Sex pheromones are chemical signals emitted by an organism that elicit a sexual response in a member of the opposite sex of the same species [1,2]. Since the structural characterization of the first sex pheromone of the silkworm moth Bombyx mori in 1959 [3,4], more than 600 species [5] of lepidopteran pheromones have been identified Their main features, e.g., species-specificity, non-toxicity to mammals and other beneficial organisms, their activity in minute amounts, and rapid degradation in the environment were soon envisioned to be promising tools for controlling insect pests, estimating pest populations, detecting the entry and progress of invasive pests, and preserving endangered species [6,7,8]. Type 0 pheromones, in turn, consist of short chain methylcarbinols and methylketones and have been found more recently in Eriocraniidae and caddisflies (Trichoptera) Another group of pheromones comprising propionate esters of secondary alcohols, methyl-branched secondary alcohols, methyl-branched methylketones, and straight-chain (Z)-7-alken-11-ones cannot be categorized in any of the Types 0-III pheromone groups because their structures are not clearly biosynthetically related to any of those classifications [35]. Rhagoletis batava (Diptera: Tephritidae) Callosamia promethea (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) Leptopilina heterotoma (Hymenoptera: Figitidae) Dendrolimus tabulaeformis (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae)
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