True Bugs (Heteroptera): Chemical Ecology of Invasive and Emerging Pest Species
1Agricultural Research Service (ARS), USDA, Washington, DC 20250, USA
2Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA
3Laboratory of Entomology, Embrapa, National Wheat Center, P.O. Box 451, Passo Fundo, RS, Brazil
4USDA-ARS Agricultural Research Center-West, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA
True Bugs (Heteroptera): Chemical Ecology of Invasive and Emerging Pest Species
Description
True bugs (order Hemiptera: suborder Heteroptera; about 40,000 species) are on the rise as pests because of international transport, insecticide resistance, range expansion due to global warming, and immunity to genetically modified crops (GMOs). Haematophagous bugs suck blood from humans and other animals, and phytophagous species are crop pests. In the past, these insects were checked by insecticides, natural enemies, and winter. For example, bed bugs (Cimicidae) were once effectively controlled by “hard” insecticides, stink bugs (Pentatomidae) were suppressed by insecticides applied against other primary pests, and freezing temperatures blocked semitropical bugs from encroaching into temperate regions. Modern “soft” insecticides are less apt to suppress heteropterans, and bugs themselves have evolved resistance to many insecticides. Bed bugs are resurging worldwide, principally due to insecticidal resistance and airline traffic. Chagas disease, vectored by triatomine bugs, is increasing in the USA through immigration of people from endemic areas. Global warming enables heteropterans to invade new regions; for example, Piezodorus guildinii (Pentatomidae), once uncommon in the USA, is now the main soybean pest in the mid-South. Plant bug (Miridae) and stink bug populations are escalating everywhere GMOs have been adopted, not only because bugs are unaffected by the Bt-endotoxins used to transform crops, but also because the advent of no-till agriculture with herbicide-resistant GMO crops leaves debris and fallen seeds favoring in-field survival of bugs. Finally, although adoption of GMOs has dramatically reduced insecticide usage, this facilitates establishment of invasive species such as the brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys) that is currently wreaking havoc in the USA.
Here we are soliciting original research and review articles on the chemical ecology of Heteroptera. Our hope is that safer, more effective management of true bugs can be achieved by incorporating semiochemicals in lieu of or as complements to insecticidal and other control tactics. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
- Identification of pheromones and kairomones of invasive and escalating species
- Semiochemically based monitoring of invasive and emergent heteropterans
- Case studies and advances in the use of semiochemicals for control
- Recently developed semiochemical analysis techniques
- Exploration/discussion of novel approaches to disrupt chemical communication
- Molecular approaches to manipulate heteropteran symbionts for host suppression
- Application of chemical signals to spread pathogenic diseases of heteropteran pests
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