Topical Collection "Advancing the Use of Plant Volatile in Biological Control of Insects and Weeds"
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Editors
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Guest Editor
Agricultural Entomology, Department of Crop Sciences, University of Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, Germany
Interests: applied and fundamental entomology; chemical ecology; biological control; IPM; biogenic volatiles; plant-insect-microbe interactions; plant resistance
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Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Forestali, Universitá degli Studi di Palermo, 90133 Palermo, Italy
Interests: general and applied entomology; biological control; chemical ecology; multitrophic interactions; herbivore-induced plant volatiles
Topical Collection Information
Dear colleagues,
Plants emit a plethora of volatile organic compounds, either constitutively or because of biotic interactions with microorganisms and herbivores. Such volatiles serve as host recognition cues (kairomones) for herbivores or host habitat cues (synomones) for their natural enemies. Volatiles hold great potential for sustainable pest and weed management; however, there is a large gap between fundamental knowledge and the application of plant volatiles. This Special Issue highlights new research with a focus on how plant volatiles could be applied in classical, augmentative, and conservation biological control.
Prof. Michael Rostás
Prof. Stefano Colazza
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the collection website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Insects is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
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Keywords
- Sustainable Agriculture
- Biological Control
- Natural Enemies
- Volatile Organic Compounds
- Pest management
Published Papers (2 papers)
Open AccessArticle
Microencapsulation of Capsaicin in Chitosan Microcapsules: Characterization, Release Behavior, and Pesticidal Properties against Tribolium castaneum (Herbst)
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Abstract
Capsaicin is a capsaicinoid in hot chili peppers, with excellent antibacterial and antimicrobial activities and a good safety profile, but its poor solubility and instability restrict its effectiveness. This limitation may be mitigated by encapsulation. Herein, capsaicin microcapsules (CCMs) were prepared through layer-by-layer
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Capsaicin is a capsaicinoid in hot chili peppers, with excellent antibacterial and antimicrobial activities and a good safety profile, but its poor solubility and instability restrict its effectiveness. This limitation may be mitigated by encapsulation. Herein, capsaicin microcapsules (CCMs) were prepared through layer-by-layer self-assembly, using chitosan and carboxymethyl chitosan as shell materials. The chemical and microstructure structural characterization was evaluated by the methods of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The SEM indicated the microcapsules were irregular in shape with an average size of about 100 μm. The encapsulation had a high loading efficiency of 64.31%. FTIR and XRD revealed the absence of the interaction between the core and shell materials and the amorphous nature of the CCMs. The analysis results of the microcapsules’ release behavior showed the burst release of capsaicin in 7 days and a slow progression afterward in three solutions, with the highest release properties in a basic solution, followed by acidic and neutral salt solutions. The entomotoxicity of CCMs was conducted against
Tribolium castaneum (Herbst), and its efficacy was compared with pure capsaicin. The CCMs were found to be highly effective against this pest. The LC
50 value for capsaicin and its microcapsules was 31.37 and 29.75 mg/kg on adults, respectively. According to these values,
T. castaneum’s development and reproduction were significantly inhibited compared with the control group. The excellent physicochemical characteristics and insecticidal performance show a high application value for integrated pest control.
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Open AccessCommunication
Interactive Effects of an Herbivore-Induced Plant Volatile and Color on an Insect Community in Cranberry
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2838
Abstract
Synthetic herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) could be used to monitor insect populations in agroecosystems, including beneficial insects such as natural enemies of herbivores. However, it is unknown whether insect responses to HIPVs are influenced by visual cues, e.g., color. We hypothesized that the
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Synthetic herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) could be used to monitor insect populations in agroecosystems, including beneficial insects such as natural enemies of herbivores. However, it is unknown whether insect responses to HIPVs are influenced by visual cues, e.g., color. We hypothesized that the HIPV methyl salicylate (MeSA) interacts with color to affect insect captures on sticky traps. To test this, we conducted a 5 × 2 factorial field experiment in a commercial cranberry farm to monitor numbers of insect predators, parasitoids, and herbivores by using five colored sticky traps that were either baited with a MeSA lure (named ‘PredaLure’) or unbaited. At the community level, PredaLure increased captures of predators. At the individual-taxon level, captures of the hoverfly
Toxomerus marginatus (Diptera: Syrphidae) and thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) were higher on PredaLure-baited traps. However, only captures of
T. marginatus on PredaLure-baited traps interacted significantly with color such that the numbers of this hoverfly on yellow and white traps were 2–4 times higher when baited with PredaLure. This study is the first to document the interactive effects of synthetic HIPVs and color on an insect community. Our findings have implications for optimal selection of HIPV-baited colored traps to monitor natural enemy populations in agroecosystems.
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