Why pest management needs behavioral ecology and vice versa

Abstract

Behavior manipulation is becoming an accepted tactic in pest management, however, there are many ways in which the approach can be improved. In this review, I explain how and why insect behavioral response to various stimuli can vary dramatically under different conditions and that it is this variable response that must be understood before behavior manipulation becomes widely accepted in pest management programs. I propose that entomologists use concepts from behavioral ecology to manipulate pest behavior in a predictable manner. The key is to study behaviors that maximize fitness in natural environments and then exploit these behaviors in agriculture. I provide examples from a range of behavior manipulation tactics, including use of attracticides, kairomone-mediated biological control, use of marking pheromones, and push-pull manipulation.

Using optimality models to improve the efficacy of parasitoids in biological control programmes

“…The number of release points thus clearly has an impact not only on the cost of the biological control programmes but also on the proportion of host patches found, their level of exploitation and the composition of the surviving population that will influence the importance and timing of the pest resurgence. When pest density damage functions are known, it is not difficult to derive optimal release point management tactics (Roitberg, 2007;Ma et al, 2009).…”

Ultrastructure of sensilla of antennae and ovipositor of Sitotroga cerealella (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), and location of female sex pheromone gland

“…Therefore, alternative management tools to control the adult moths are urgently required. In recent years, to combat pest damage, the pest management tactic using behavioural manipulation, including mating disruption, feeding disruption, oviposition deterrence, use of attractants, and pre-release training, has become the focus of research for pest control4. Mating disruption, which prevents males from finding females, is the most widely studied area of behavioural manipulation for pest management4.…”

Genetics of the Behavioral Ecology of Egg Parasitoids

“…However, although the theory is becoming progressively more accurate, there is currently a clear lack of experimental data to understand the associated evolutionary meaning and what can be the corresponding applications in terms of biological control (Roitberg 2007).…”

“…After decades of biological control programs designed using a trial-and-error method, behavioral ecology, by identifying the key behavioral traits implicated in the pest control efficiency of insect parasitoids and especially egg parasitoids, seems now to provide a modern, scientifically-based and formal approach leading hopefully to define optimized and more efficient pest control programs (Waage 1990, Roitberg 2007. The information collected following such a scientific approach can help us in optimizing the choice of the correct species and population to control an indentified pest in a given environment (Wajnberg 2004, Mills and.…”

“…For this, several authors over the last 15-20 years progressively proposed to develop a more scientificallybased, formal approach of biological control that is then not only based on an usual trial-and-error method (e.g., Waage 1990, Wajnberg 2004, Roitberg 2007. The general idea is to use the concept and development of behavioral ecology, a growing scientific discipline that aims at understanding the behavior animals should adopt in different environmental situations to maximize their long-term offspring production (their so-called fitness) (Stephens andKrebs 1986, Godfray 1994).…”