Insect pathogens as alternatives to chemical insecticides in developing countries.
1987
Roberts D.W.
Insect pathogens are promising alternatives or supplements to synthetic chemical insecticides because of their safety to mammals and the environment. Insect viruses and protozoa are produced in laboratory-reared insects, or diseased insects are collected in the field, homogenized and applied to crops. The principal targets at present are grasshoppers for protozoa, and caterpillars for viruses. Promising viruses of sawflies, grasshoppers, rhinoceros beetle also exist. Most entomopathogenic bacteria and fungi grow well on simple, inexpensive media. The bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis is the most widely used microbial control agent worldwide. A recent mass production methodology yielding dry, but still viable, mycelium which sporulates after application in the fields affords efficient utilization of many entomopathogenic fungi. In addition to insecticide-like use, insect diseases can be exploited by encouraging pathogens to induce (epizootica) and by introducing pathogens to induced epizootics. Molecular and classical genetic manipulation studies are underway worldwide, particularly with bacteria and viruses, to improve the microbes' host range, longevity, virulence, and other traits. More effective microbial control products can be expected in the near future.
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