Biological insecticides

Biological insecticides

Recent efforts to reduce the impact of broad-spectrum chemical pesticides have brought biological insecticides back into vogue.

An example is the development and increase in use of "Bacillus thuringiensis", a bacterial disease of Lepidoptera, Coleoptera and Diptera. Because it has little effect on other organisms, it is considered more environmentally friendly than synthetic pesticides. The toxin from "Bacillus thuringiensis" (Bt toxin) has been incorporated directly into plants through the use of genetic engineering.

Other biological insecticides include products based on:
* entomopathogenic fungi ("e.g. Metarhizium anisopliae"),
* entomopathogenic nematodes ("e.g. Steinernema feltiae") and
* entomopathogenic viruses ("e.g". "Cydia pomonella" granulovirus).

"The Manual of Biocontrol Agents" [Copping L.G. (ed.) (2004). "The Manual of Biocontrol Agents" (formerly the "Biopesticide Manual") 3rd Edition. British Crop Production Council (BCPC), Farnham, Surrey UK.] gives a review of the available biological insecticide (and other biology-based control) products. In order to implement these environmentally-friendly pest control agents, it is often especially important to pay attention to their formulation [Burges, H.D. (ed.) 1998 "Formulation of Microbial Biopesticides, beneficial microorganisms, nematodes and seed treatments" Publ. Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, 412 pp.] and application. [Lacey & H. Kaya (eds.) (2000) "Field Manual of Techniques for the Evaluation of Entomopathogens" Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, NL, 911 pp.]

ee also

*Chemical insecticides
*Biological control
*Biopesticide
*Integrated pest management
*Pesticide

References

* [http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/biopesticides/whatarebiopesticides.htm] US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Insecticide — For other uses, see Insecticide (disambiguation). An insecticide is a pesticide used against insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against the eggs and larvae of insects respectively. Insecticides are used in agriculture, medicine,… …   Wikipedia

  • Bacillus thuringiensis — Spores and bipyramidal crystals of Bacillus thuringiensis morrisoni strain T08025 Scientific classification Kingdom …   Wikipedia

  • Aphid — This article is about the insect. For other uses, see Aphid (disambiguation). Aphids Temporal range: Permian–Present …   Wikipedia

  • Fungus — Fungi redirects here. You may be looking for Fungi (music) or Fungus (XM). Fungi Temporal range: Early Devonian–Recent (but see text) …   Wikipedia

  • Beauveria bassiana — Grasshoppers killed by B. bassiana Scientific classification Kingdom: Fungi …   Wikipedia

  • Entomopathogenic fungus — An entomopathogenic fungus is a fungus that can act as a parasite of insects and kills or seriously disables them. Typical life cycle These fungi usually attach to the external body surface of insects in the form of microscopic spores (usually… …   Wikipedia

  • Cydia pomonella granulosis virus — (CpGV) is a Baculovirus Granulovirus. It has a double stranded DNA genome 123500 bp in length with 143 ORFs. The virus forms small bodies called granules containing a single viron. CpGV is a virus of invertebrates – specifically Cydia pomonella… …   Wikipedia

  • Entomopathogenic nematode — Entomopathogenic nematodes are soil inhabiting, lethal insect parasitoids that belong to the phylum Nematoda, commonly called roundworms. The term entomopathogenic comes from the Greek word entomon, meaning insect, and pathogenic, which means… …   Wikipedia

  • Thrips — Thunderbug redirects here. For the NHL mascot, see List of National Hockey League mascots. For the type genus, see Thrips (genus). Thrips Temporal range: 299–0 Ma …   Wikipedia

  • Metarhizium anisopliae — Cockroach killed by M. anisopliae Scientific classification Kingdom …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”