Reisenman Carolina E, Lei Hong, Guerenstein Pablo G
Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and Essig Museum of Entomology, University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA, USA.
Department of Neuroscience, University of Arizona Tucson, AZ, USA.
Front Physiol. 2016 Jun 30;7:271. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2016.00271. eCollection 2016.
Harmful insects include pests of crops and storage goods, and vectors of human and animal diseases. Throughout their history, humans have been fighting them using diverse methods. The fairly recent development of synthetic chemical insecticides promised efficient crop and health protection at a relatively low cost. However, the negative effects of those insecticides on human health and the environment, as well as the development of insect resistance, have been fueling the search for alternative control tools. New and promising alternative methods to fight harmful insects include the manipulation of their behavior using synthetic versions of "semiochemicals", which are natural volatile and non-volatile substances involved in the intra- and/or inter-specific communication between organisms. Synthetic semiochemicals can be used as trap baits to monitor the presence of insects, so that insecticide spraying can be planned rationally (i.e., only when and where insects are actually present). Other methods that use semiochemicals include insect annihilation by mass trapping, attract-and- kill techniques, behavioral disruption, and the use of repellents. In the last decades many investigations focused on the neural bases of insect's responses to semiochemicals. Those studies help understand how the olfactory system detects and processes information about odors, which could lead to the design of efficient control tools, including odor baits, repellents or ways to confound insects. Here we review our current knowledge about the neural mechanisms controlling olfactory responses to semiochemicals in harmful insects. We also discuss how this neuroethology approach can be used to design or improve pest/vector management strategies.
有害昆虫包括农作物和储存货物的害虫，以及人类和动物疾病的传播媒介。在人类历史上，一直在使用各种方法与它们作斗争。合成化学杀虫剂的出现相对较晚，有望以相对较低的成本实现高效的作物保护和健康保护。然而，这些杀虫剂对人类健康和环境的负面影响，以及昆虫抗药性的发展，促使人们寻找替代控制工具。对抗有害昆虫的新的且有前景的替代方法包括使用 “信息素” 的合成版本来操纵它们的行为，信息素是参与生物体内和 / 或种间通讯的天然挥发性和非挥发性物质。合成信息素可用作诱捕诱饵来监测昆虫的存在，从而合理规划杀虫剂的喷洒（即仅在昆虫实际存在的时间和地点）。其他使用信息素的方法包括通过大量诱捕消灭昆虫、诱捕并杀死技术、行为干扰以及使用驱避剂。在过去几十年中，许多研究集中在昆虫对信息素反应的神经基础上。这些研究有助于理解嗅觉系统如何检测和处理有关气味的信息，这可能会促成高效控制工具的设计，包括气味诱饵、驱避剂或迷惑昆虫的方法。在这里，我们综述了目前关于控制有害昆虫对信息素嗅觉反应的神经机制的知识。我们还讨论了这种神经行为学方法如何用于设计或改进害虫 / 病媒管理策略。
