Opportunities for Developing Alternate Ways to Control Insects

Abstract

THE development of new, highly active chemicals for control of insects during the past two decades has led to phenomenal successes that affect man's health and comfort, and his capability to control pests competing for his food supplies. There are few vectors of human disease or few agricultural pests that cannot be effectively controlled with one or more of the wide variety of insecticides now available. However, coincident with these developments, side effects have emerged that result from the widespread use of the dozens of new insect-control chemicals. Many of the insects have become resistant to certain insecticides, necessitating development and use of alternate materials. Another problem of increasing concern to agricultural administrators, public health officials, conservationists, and the public in general, relates to the potential hazards resulting from the use of these pesticides. The complexity of these problems has been recognized by many scientists for many years. About ten years ago the Entomology Research Division of the Agricultural Research Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, began a complete reorientation of its research program because of the many complex residue problems and the equally disturbing evidence of widespread resistance of insects to insecticides. Much of our effort, in cooperation with industry, was redirected to developing safer insecticides. At the same time, we reappraised the research programs on methods for control of insects. Within the limits of available resources, we made every effort to expand research on natural biological control agents, on specific chemical and physical attractants, on crop varieties that resist insect attack, and on the new technic of employing sterile insects for their own destruction. Most of these approaches to insect control had been investigated before. However, the successes achieved by these methods were few in relation to the successes attained through research on conventional control chemicals. Nevertheless, entomologists, chemists, and other scientists working on insect problems were confident that many of the serious insect problems could be met by developing alternate methods. With limited research resources in relation to the magnitude of the problem, entomologists, chemists, and other scientists working on insects have made substantial progress during the past decade in developing such alternate methods. Some of the new developments arising from this redirected research effort will be discussed in this review of progress.