Insecticidal Activity of Essential Oil-Based Nanoemulsion against .

, commonly known as the Egyptian or African cotton leafworm, is a significant agricultural threat. It is widely distributed in Africa, Mediterranean Europe, and Middle Eastern countries. This polyphagous pest infests numerous crop plants across 44 families, including cotton, soybeans, alfalfa, sweet potato, pepper, eggplant, tomato, maize, lettuce, strawberry, wheat, and hibiscus.

Aphicidal Activity and Phytotoxicity of Essential-Oil-Based Nano-Insecticide.

Due to its high polyphagy, is considered a key pest of many crops, and it can feed on hundreds of plant species belonging to the families Cucurbitaceae, Malvaceae, Solanaceae, Rutaceae, and Asteraceae. The control of this pest mainly relies on synthetic insecticides whose adverse effects on the environment and human health are encouraging researchers to explore innovative, alternative solutions. In this scenario, essential oils (EOs) could play a key role in the development of ecofriendly pesticides.

Toxics or Lures? Biological and Behavioral Effects of Plant Essential Oils on Tephritidae Fruit Flies.

The family Tephritidae (Diptera) includes species that are highly invasive and harmful to crops. Due to globalization, international trade, and human displacement, their spread is continuously increasing. Unfortunately, the control of tephritid flies is still closely linked to the use of synthetic insecticides, which are responsible for detrimental effects on the environment and human health.

Volatile Infochemicals from Larvae and Larval Feces Involved in Host Habitat Location.

The development of biologically based approaches for stored product pest control is needed to reduce chemical inputs. Bioassays were performed to investigate host habitat location in the trophic interaction durum wheat//. GC-MS analyses were carried out to identify some chemical compounds produced by the host-related substrates.

Side effects of two citrus essential oil formulations on a generalist insect predator, plant and soil enzymatic activities.

The widespread use of chemical pesticides for crop protection, despite having contributed to ensure food security, have shown to exert negative impacts on the environment and on human health. In addition, the frequent emergence of resistance to pesticides and their adverse effects toward non-target organisms have generated the need to develop novel ecofriendly tools for pest control. Among these, plant essential oils (EOs) may play a central role in arthropod pest control.

Olive fruit volatiles route intraspecific interactions and chemotaxis in Bactrocera oleae (Rossi) (Diptera: Tephritidae) females.

Plant nutritional quality and chemical characteristics may affect the fitness of phytophagous insects. Here, the olfactory preferences of Bactrocera oleae (Rossi) females toward olives with different maturation and infestation status were evaluated in three cultivars: Ottobratica, Roggianella and Sinopolese. Volatile profiles from olives were identified by SPME/GC-MS.

Author Correction: Citrus peel essential oil nanoformulations to control the tomato borer, Tuta absoluta: chemical properties and biological activity.

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has been fixed in the paper.

Instar- and host-associated differentiation of bacterial communities in the Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata.

Microorganisms are acknowledged for their role in shaping insects' evolution, life history and ecology. Previous studies have shown that microbial communities harbored within insects vary through ontogenetic development and among insects feeding on different host-plant species. In this study, we characterized the bacterial microbiota of the highly polyphagous Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae), at different instars and when feeding on different host-plant species.

VOC emissions influence intra- and interspecific interactions among stored-product Coleoptera in paddy rice.

Olfaction is a pivotal sense for insects and granivorous pests may exploit grain volatiles for food selection. Tribolium confusum, is a secondary pest of stored cereals that benefits from primary pests' infestation, as other secondary feeders, triggering competition. This study aimed to evaluate the preferences of T.

Citrus peel essential oil nanoformulations to control the tomato borer, Tuta absoluta: chemical properties and biological activity.

The repeated use of conventional synthetic pesticides in crop protection leads to resistance development by pests along with a negative impact on the environment, particularly non-target arthropods. Plant-derived active compounds, such as essential oils (EOs), play a key role in sustainably controlling pests. The lethal and sublethal activity of citrus peel EOs as emulsions and included in polyethylene glycol (PEG) nanoparticles (EO-NPs) was determined against the invasive tomato pest Tuta absoluta.

Influence of Host Plant on Thaumetopoea pityocampa Gut Bacterial Community.

Microbial communities associated to the gut of insects are attracting an increasing interest, mainly because of their role in influencing several host life-traits. The characterization of the gut microbial community is pivotal for understanding insect ecology and, thus, to develop novel pest management strategies. The pine processionary moth, Thaumetopoea pytiocampa (Denis & Schiff.

A novel GIS-based approach to assess beekeeping suitability of Mediterranean lands.

Honeybees are critically important for the environment and to the economy. However, there are in substantial decline worldwide, leading to serious threat to the stability and yield of food crops. Beekeeping is of pivotal importance, combining the wide economical aspect of honey production and the important ecological services provided by honeybees.

A Metabarcoding Survey on the Fungal Microbiota Associated to the Olive Fruit Fly.

The occurrence of interaction between insects and fungi is interesting from an ecological point of view, particularly when these interactions involve insect pests and plant pathogens within an agroecosystem. In this study, we aimed to perform an accurate analysis on the fungal microbiota associated to Bactrocera oleae (Rossi) through a metabarcoding approach based on 454 pyrosequencing. From this analysis, we retrieved 43,549 reads that clustered into 128 operational taxonomic units (OTUs), of which 29 resulted in the "core" associate fungi of B.

Larvicidal Effects of Four Citrus Peel Essential Oils Against the Arbovirus Vector Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae).

In this study, we evaluated the larvicidal activity of four citrus essential oils (EOs; sweet orange, mandarin, bergamot, and lemon) against the arbovirus vector Aedes albopictus (Skuse) (Diptera: Culicidae) under laboratory conditions. Through gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analyses, we found that in sweet orange, mandarin, and lemon EOs, limonene was the most abundant compound, whereas linalyl acetate was the most abundant in the bergamot EO. All tested EOs showed a marked larvicidal activity, in particular sweet orange, lemon, and bergamot that killed all treated larvae.

Life stage-dependent susceptibility of Aphytis melinus DeBach (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) to two pesticides commonly used in citrus orchards.

The assessment of pesticides compatibility with natural enemies is recommended before including agrochemicals in integrated and organic pest management schemes. The lethal and sublethal effects of a mineral oil and a juvenile hormone mimic (pyriproxyfen), on adults and larvae of Aphytis melinus, a key ectoparasitoid of armored scale insect pests of citrus, such as Aonidiella aurantii, were evaluated. Mineral oil caused very high mortality on the adults, while a lower acute toxicity was recorded on young instars.