The Future of Organic Insect Pest Management: Be a Better Entomologist or Pay for Someone Who Is.

Insect pest management in certified organic production systems presents considerable challenges for growers. The Federal National Organic Program (NOP) guidelines list acceptable tactics, but their effective use requires a considerable knowledgebase in entomology. The range of tactics allowed by the NOP are viewed as limiting by many growers and there are important elements missing from the list such as pest monitoring and identification.

Novel lepidopteran sex pheromone components from Marmara gulosa (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae).

Marmara gulosa Guillén & Davis (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) is a sporadic pest of citrus and a number of other crops in southern and central California. Coupled gas chromatographic-electroantennogram detection analyses of headspace volatiles collected by solid phase microextraction from virgin female moths revealed at least four related compounds in the extracts that elicited significant antennal responses from antennae of male moths. These compounds were identified as (8E,10E)-tetradecadien-1-ol, and the corresponding aldehyde, acetate, and formate ester, representing the first report of a formate as a lepidopteran pheromone component.