Sequential Isolation of Essential Oils Repellent to the Red Palm Weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier (Coleoptera: Curculionidae).

The push-pull approach using semiochemicals in pest control requires both an attractant and a repellent. Many previous studies have arbitrarily tested one or more known insect repellents or plant essential oils (EOs) hoping to find repellents of an insect pest. We used a comprehensive approach that synergistically tests in the field numerous natural volatiles from commercial EOs to identify repellents of the red palm weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), a worldwide pest of palms and date palms.

Modelling push-pull management of pest insects using repellents and attractive traps in fruit tree orchards.

Background: Push-pull with semiochemicals in pest management uses repellents to reduce response of pests to food-mate resources (push) and attractive traps to reduce populations (pull). Simulation models of push-pull can aid understanding of plant-insect interactions in nature and suggest hypotheses for field tests that improve management. A previous model indicated advantages of push-pull for controlling ambrosia beetle, Euwallacea fornicatus, pest of avocado trees.

Circadian rhythms of insect pheromone titer, calling, emission, and response: a review.

Many insect species have circadian rhythms of pheromone production/titer, calling, emission, and response that are involved in intraspecific communication and impact pest management practices. Rhythms of pheromone biosynthesis, most studied in moths affecting forestry and agriculture, contribute to a periodicity of pheromone concentration or titer within glands or hemolymph. Calling rhythms by the pheromone-emitting sex are physical movements (pumping, vibrating wings) that aid in release and dispersion of the volatile pheromone components attractive to the opposite conspecific sex or both sexes.

Absolute Configuration of the Spherical Mealybug Sex Pheromone, γ-Necrodyl Isobutyrate: Chemoenzymatic Synthesis and Bioassays.

The spherical mealybug, (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), is a major global pest causing feeding damage to leaves and fruits of citrus varieties, soybean, mango, pomegranate, and grapevines. Females of the mealybug release a sex pheromone that was identified recently as a mixture of γ-necrodyl isobutyrate and γ-necrodol. The identification required synthesis based on a natural source of -α-necrodol, of unknown chirality, obtained from essential oil of Spanish lavender, .

Semiochemicals Affecting Attraction of Ambrosia Beetle Euwallacea fornicatus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) to Quercivorol: Developing Push-Pull Control.

Euwallacea fornicatus (Eichhoff), the polyphagous shot hole borer (PSHB), is an ambrosia beetle infesting avocado Persea americana Mill. limbs in North America and Israel. We conducted field experiments with sticky traps in avocado orchards to develop push-pull semiochemical methods of managing PSHB.