The potential for monitoring and control of insect pests in Southern Hemisphere forestry plantations using semiochemicals

Planted forest health: The need for a global strategy

“…There have been many subsequent examples in planted forests, such as, for example, the widely applied Sirex woodwasp biological control using the parasitic nematode Deladenus siricidicola (23). Dealing with native insect pests is somewhat more complex, and in the absence of resistant planting stock, the application of biocides such as formulations of the insect pathogenic bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis and insect pathogens (e.g., Beauvaria bassiana) and behavioraltering semiochemical-based strategies provide opportunities (24,25). But there also remains a strong dependence on synthetic chemical insecticides that may be harmful to the environment and inconsistent with environmental certification (see http://pesticides.fsc.org).…”

“…This tool is underused in forestry in general, and in planted forests in particular (25), because of a lack of capacity to study the behaviorally active compounds of pest insects and a lack of investment in this promising field. Examining the genomics of forest pests could increase the speed of discovering promising alternatives through reverse chemical ecology (32).…”

Assessing trap and lure effectiveness for the monitoring of Sirex noctilio

“…Accurate information on the abundance and spread of alien invasive species is required to inform management decisions and to predict and minimize potential detrimental effects to natural and human landscapes. For alien invasive forest insect species, traps baited with either tree stress volatiles or synthetic pheromones that closely mimic those produced and detected by the insects themselves are among the most effective tools for monitoring spread and establishment (Brockerhoff et al , ; Witzgall et al , ; Nadel et al , ). Trap design and deployment strategy is often target insect‐specific, with myriad variables of trap shape, size, colour, position and timing of deployment being critical to success.…”

Sex pheromones as a tool to overcome the Wallacean shortfall in conservation biology: a case of Elater ferrugineus Linnaeus, 1758 (Coleoptera: Elateridae)

“…One of the most effective methods of this kind is the use of pheromones or other semiochemicals as attractants. The method has been for a long time used in detection, monitoring and control of pest insects (Kehat and Dunkelblum 1993;Welter et al 2005;Nadel et al 2012), including introduced invasive species (Crook et al 2008;Byers and Naranjo 2014). As demonstrated in recent studies, species-specific and sensitive pheromone-bait traps can be especially useful to detect low-density populations (e.g.…”