Genomics of Insect Pests of Agriculture

Dear Colleagues,

Understanding how insects can rapidly become severe pests of agriculture is critically relevant for ecological management, pest control, climate change adaptation, and evolution. This is truly a worldwide issue, with a potential cost to global agriculture of over $US 500 billion per year if current invasive pests and their pathogens continue to spread. Growth in international trade has been implicated in the spread of insect pests across the globe, and we now face a true risk of 'mega-pests'—created when invasive pests hybridise with native species to create both locally-adapted and genetically superior insect pests.
Generally speaking, the worst insect pests of agriculture are widespread, have a large host range, are still spreading, and are resistant to many pesticides. Undoubtedly, these characteristics stem from diverse demographic and ecological processes, but what are the genomic components of 'pestiness'? How do pest species become so rapidly successful in new environments? Do they possess the genetic characteristics to become pests before they invade a new area or do they rapidly co-opt de novo mutations towards new functionalities? This Special Issue provides a platform to highlight new research that contributes to our understanding of the genomics of agricultural insect pests.

Dr. Angela McGaughran
Guest Editor

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• Adaptation
• Detoxification
• Gene families
• Gene flow
• Genomics
• Hybridisation
• Mobility
• Pests
• Population structure
• Resilience