Can semiochemicals alter the use of parasites in ipm programs?

Abstract

Semiochemicals are increasingly found to play a significant role in host location and acceptance by parasitic hymenoptera. The roles of these chemicals range from stimulating parasites to search for hosts to influencing the species of hosts attacked. The source of these compounds also ranges from plants, hosts and associated organisms. In plants they comprise an important part of a plant's resistance to pests that may be overlooked. These semiochemicals can attract and retain parasites in select environments and can influence the levels of parasitism that occur. The result is that one of the major problems in the use of parasitic insects for biological control in IPM (Integrated Pest Management) systems, that is the lag in response of parasites to a host population increase can be overcome. Although the premise is that semiochemicals can attract, retain and stimulate parasites to function in cropping systems before the pest population begins to increase, what is our state of knowledge and where do we stand in the use of semiochemicals for biological pest management? This issue will be discussed, however, significant progress towards the practical use of semiochemicals may well depend on the availability of mass produced parasitic species. Rapid progress in in vitro production of parasitic insects is also being made. The status of in vitro production and how the combined efforts of these two areas (in vitro production and behavioral manipulation) provide the technology to significantly alter our use of parasitic insects for IPM will be presented.