Coupling several natural and synthetic lures with aggregation pheromones from the palm weevils Rhynchophorus palmarum and R. ferrugineus reveals a synergy that results in an increase in pest captures. The combined attraction of pure pheromones, ethyl acetate, and decaying sweet and starchy plant tissue increases the net total of mass-trapped weevils. The 2018 entrance of the red palm weevil (RPW) into South America has threatened palm-product income in Brazil and other neighboring countries. The presence of the new A1 quarantine pest necessitates the review of all available options for a sustainable mass-trapping, monitoring, and control strategy to ultimately target both weevils with the same device. The effective lure-blend set for the mass-trapping system will attract weevils in baiting and contaminating stations for entomopathogenic fungi that the same weevils will spread.

This study investigated the biological activities of five benthic marine algae collected from Northeastern Region of Brazil. The tested activities included larvicidal activity against Aedes aegypti, molluscicidal activity against Biomphalaria glabrata, and toxicity against Artemia salina. Extracts of Ulva lactuca (Chlorophyta), Padina gymnospora, Sargassum vulgare (Phaeophyta), Hypnea musciformis, and Digenea simplex (Rhodophyta) were prepared using different solvents of increasing polarity, including dichloromethane, methanol, ethanol, and water. Of the extracts screened, the dichloromethane extracts of H. musciformis and P. gymnospora exhibited the highest activities and were subjected to bioassay-guided fractionation in hexane and chloroform. The chloroform fractions of the P. gymnospora and H. musciformis extracts showed molluscicidal activity at values below 40 μg·mL−1 (11.1460 μg·mL−1 and 25.8689 μg·mL−1, resp.), and the chloroform and hexane fractions of P. gymnospora showed larvicidal activity at values below 40 μg·mL−1 (29.018 μg·mL−1 and 17.230 μg·mL−1, resp.). The crude extracts were not toxic to A. salina, whereas the chloroform and hexane fractions of P. gymnospora (788.277 μg·mL−1 and 706.990 μg·mL−1) showed moderate toxicity, indicating that the toxic compounds present in these algae are nonpolar.

Predators and parasitoids locate herbivore-infested plants via detection of herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) that are released in response to pest damage. Synthetic HIPVs have been proposed as tools to enhance the biological control of crop pests. The sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), is a key herbivore pest of sugarcane, Saccharum spp. (Poaceae), in the Americas. To manage D. saccharalis in Brazil, more than 3 million ha of sugarcane have been treated with the larval parasitoid Cotesia flavipes (Cameron) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). In this study, the role of sugarcane HIPVs as cues in the hostfinding process of C. flavipes was investigated using a combination of dynamic headspace collection, chemical analysis, and laboratory behavior experiments. Comparison of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) collected from D. saccharalis-damaged and healthy sugarcane revealed very similar profiles, apart from significantly higher levels of the sesquiterpene (E)-caryophyllene released from damaged plants. Naive female C. flavipes spent significantly more time in the olfactometer arm containing VOCs from D. saccharalis-damaged plants but showed no preference for VOCs from healthy plants. When (E)-caryophyllene was added to VOCs from healthy plants, parasitoids spent more time in the arm containing the combined treatment. Furthermore, in a dose-response experiment with synthetic (E)-caryophyllene, naive parasitoids preferred the compound across a dose range of 3-300 ng, and experienced parasitoidspreexposed to (E)-caryophylleneresponded to doses of (E)-caryophyllene as low as 0.03 ng. These results suggest that C. flavipes can use (E)-caryophyllene as a cue to locate D. saccharalis-infested sugarcane plants. Moreover, experienced females appear to respond to lower doses than naive females. These results potentially pave the way for increasing the efficiency of C. flavipes in biological control of D. saccharalis, the most important pest of sugarcane and maize crops in the Western Hemisphere, and also a major pest of rice and sorghum crops.

Os metabólitos secundários sintetizados por alguns grupos de vegetais são responsáveis por aumentarem suas chances de sobrevivência pois influenciam diretamente nas relações Palavras chave: Semioquímicos, ecologia, agroecossistema.

A mandioca (Manihot esculenta Crantz) é uma das principais fontes de carboidratos para milhões de pessoas nas regiões tropicais. Apesar da sua relativa rusticidade, a incidência de artrópodes, como ácaros, provoca grandes perdas na produção. Nesse sentido, o ácaro verde (Mononychellus tanajoa) vem se destacando principalmente na região Nordeste do Brasil. Dessa forma, este trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar a influência da associação de diferentes cultivares de mandioca sobre o desenvolvimento do ácaro verde. Para comparar as três cultivares e suas associações em relação ao desenvolvimento do ácaro, foi instalado um experimento em delineamento em blocos casualizados com seis tratamentos (as três variedades e suas associações duas a duas). Foi realizada a contagem dos ácaros em três plantas de cada variedade e em seguida foi feita a triagem de todas as formas móveis de ácaro verde. A coleta e a identificação dos voláteis das variedades de mandioca foram realizadas visando uma possível associação com a resistência/suscetibilidade.  Os resultados obtidos mostraram que: a) a cultivar Campinas mostrou-se mais suscetível ao ácaro em relação as cultivares Rosinha e Sergipana; b) a associação entre as cultivares proporcionou redução significativa na população do ácaro em relação aos monocultivos; c) os compostos orgânicos voláteis Hex-3-en-2-one, (E)-Cariofileno e Hexadecano, presentes somente nas cultivares Rosinha e Sergipana são os prováveis responsáveis pela não-preferência dos ácaros em relação a cultivar Campinas. Sendo assim, os resultados evidenciam o potencial do uso de misturas de variedades em cultivos de mandioca para a redução do ácaro verde.