Agricultural pests have long been considered one of the greatest threats to food security. Insect pests and diseases cause about a 40% loss in global production each year. And scientists warn that the problem will probably get worse.
Filed under: Insects, Invasive species, Resistance | Tagged: Coffee leaf rust, Coffee wilt disease, colorado potato beetle, Desert locust, Khapra beetle, mountain pine beetle, Potato blight, Ug99, Witches' broom disease, Worst pest list | Leave a Comment »
If biocontrol has so many advantages, why do some people shudder at the mention of a new introduction of an insect or parasitoid that may save a crop or forest tree from certain destruction? Simple. Any time that any living organism is set free in a foreign habitat, that organism presents its own risks.
Filed under: Insects, Invasive species, Resistance, Uncategorized | Tagged: biocontrol, biological control, Cactoblastis cactorum, Compsilura concinnata, Florida cactus, gypsy moth, Large white, Larinus planus, prickly pear, silkworm | Leave a Comment »
Last week, news about a new study on bed bugs flooded the media. The study seemed to dispute the theory that bed bugs, unlike other blood-sucking insects like mosquitoes and ticks, do not transmit disease. Based on results from a poverty-stricken community in Vancouver, British Columbia, the study concludes that in certain circumstances, bedbugs may have the potential to transmit bacteria. But what did the study really find?
Filed under: Resistance, Uncategorized, Urban IPM | Tagged: bedbugs, bedbugs and disease, bedbugs and resistant bacteria, MRSA and bedbugs, vancouver study | Leave a Comment »
Those of us who face summer-long battles with weeds often wish we could find a way to keep weeds from coming back. As a group of researchers discovered, the answer is more complicated than it might seem.
Filed under: Resistance, Weed Control | Tagged: lambsquarters, organic vs conventional, organic weed control, pigweed, weed seed persistence, weed seed viability, weed seeds | Leave a Comment »
In the second installment in this series of success stories, a research project in Georgia leads to an invention that aids growers in disease control decisions.
Filed under: Pesticides, Resistance | Tagged: brown rot disease, Georgia peaches, IPM Center successes, peach brown rot | Leave a Comment »
The flu and other bacterial infections are hard enough to live through, but when antibiotics don’t cure them, they’re even more miserable. Many of us have read stories of “superbugs”—bacteria that resist some of the common antibiotics. However, few of us have probably considered the possibility that the pesky household fly or German cockroach could contribute to those superbugs. According to a new study, they do.
Filed under: Insects, Resistance | Tagged: cockroaches, house flies, house flies and disease, household bugs, Household pests, resistant antibiotics, superbugs | 1 Comment »
Aside from the bedbug, one other blood-sucking creature has gotten a bad rap throughout history and is typically on the “least wanted” pest list: the louse. Common in schools and other communal living areas, lice seem to create trauma for the person they infest. Now new research on lice genomes may lead to some new control options.
Filed under: Insects, Resistance, Urban IPM | Tagged: delousing treatments, how to get rid of lice, lice, lice and hygiene | Leave a Comment »
When crop prices rise, it’s tempting to try to protect one’s crop at any price. Researchers from the Central and Mid-south regions warn that overusing any technology can lead to resistance, and resistant insects don’t care about crop prices.
Filed under: Insects, Pesticides, Resistance | Tagged: Bt corn, Bt crops, Bt resistance, Bt-cotton, high dose, refuge fields | 1 Comment »
Crops genetically engineered with the toxin Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) have been grown in the United States since 1996. Since then, concerns about pest resistance have grown, mainly because of observed resistance of the cotton bollworm (Helicoverpa zea), a major pest of cotton. According to a 2009 published study, insect resistance to Bt can be monitored and prevented.
Filed under: Insects, Pesticides, Resistance | Tagged: bollworm resistance, Bt corn, Bt crops, Bt resistance, Bt-cotton, corn earworm resistance, Helicoverpa zea | Leave a Comment »
Bt crops have been touted an IPM strategy that has helped keep pesticide use to a minimum. As more Bt crops are developed, is this technology a sound long-term strategy, or could it cause even more resistance issues? Is it really IPM?
Filed under: Pesticides, Resistance | Tagged: biotech crops, Bollgard, Bollgard refuge, Bt corn, Bt crops, Bt refuge, Bt resistance, Bt-cotton, GMO crops | 1 Comment »
