When a chemical substance acts on the same species to change or stimulate certain behaviors, it is called "pheromones", while those act on different species are called "allelochemicals". The use of pheromone can be used as a tool for monitoring, sampling and investigating the population dynamics of insect pests in the field. When the pest density reaches the economic threshold, the control technologies such as chemical control, biological control and physical control will be started, and the application of pheromone is also one of the integrated pest management (IPM).
At present, more than 2600 species of pheromones have been identified. Among them, sex pheromones are the most common species, about 1410 species, and lepidoptera is the main control target. The pheromone product can be used to lure, repel or copulate insects after natural diffusion and volatilization. The toxic mechanism of pheromone is different from of chemical pesticides. The use of insect pheromone is a technology of IPM, which has the characteristics of non-toxic, non-residue, species specificity and trace amount. Due to the specificity of insect pheromone, it is necessary to identify the "pest species" target and adopt regional joint control. If it is used continuously, the control effect will be better.
Started from 1976, the Taiwan Agricultural Chemicals and Toxic Substances Research Institute, COA has been implementing the "study on the technique of large-scale rearing and pheromone bioassay of mealybug in Guava (Citrus)" for more than 30 years. 29 kinds of important pests’ pheromones were developed, such as mealybug, corn borer, sweet potato weevil, beet armyworm, Eucosma meyrick, Conopomorpha bradley, Bactrocera dorsalis, Spodoptera litura, Lymantria xylina, thrips and aphids, etc (see Table 1). It can be used in the control of grain, vegetable, fruit tree, horticulture and grain accumulation pests. We have developed a variety of trapping systems and technologies such as sex pheromone, aggregation pheromone, guard pheromone and other pest trapping and killing functions, and promoted them to farmers as pest management applications.
Table 1. Materials and control techniques of pheromone / attractant developed in Taiwan.
Irresistibly attractive-Pheromones
When a chemical substance acts on the same species to change or stimulate certain behaviors, it is called "pheromones", while those act on different species are called "allelochemicals". The use of pheromone can be used as a tool for monitoring, sampling and investigating the population dynamics of insect pests in the field. When the pest density reaches the economic threshold, the control technologies such as chemical control, biological control and physical control will be started, and the application of pheromone is also one of the integrated pest management (IPM).
At present, more than 2600 species of pheromones have been identified. Among them, sex pheromones are the most common species, about 1410 species, and lepidoptera is the main control target. The pheromone product can be used to lure, repel or copulate insects after natural diffusion and volatilization. The toxic mechanism of pheromone is different from of chemical pesticides. The use of insect pheromone is a technology of IPM, which has the characteristics of non-toxic, non-residue, species specificity and trace amount. Due to the specificity of insect pheromone, it is necessary to identify the "pest species" target and adopt regional joint control. If it is used continuously, the control effect will be better.
Started from 1976, the Taiwan Agricultural Chemicals and Toxic Substances Research Institute, COA has been implementing the "study on the technique of large-scale rearing and pheromone bioassay of mealybug in Guava (Citrus)" for more than 30 years. 29 kinds of important pests’ pheromones were developed, such as mealybug, corn borer, sweet potato weevil, beet armyworm, Eucosma meyrick, Conopomorpha bradley, Bactrocera dorsalis, Spodoptera litura, Lymantria xylina, thrips and aphids, etc (see Table 1). It can be used in the control of grain, vegetable, fruit tree, horticulture and grain accumulation pests. We have developed a variety of trapping systems and technologies such as sex pheromone, aggregation pheromone, guard pheromone and other pest trapping and killing functions, and promoted them to farmers as pest management applications.
Table 1. Materials and control techniques of pheromone / attractant developed in Taiwan.