This document discusses insect behaviour and concepts related to behavioural manipulation as potential tools for pest management. It begins with an introduction to behavioural manipulation methods and the concept of super-normal stimuli. It then covers different types of stimuli insects respond to including chemical stimuli like sex pheromones, host plant volatiles, visual stimuli, and tactile stimuli. Applications of behavioural manipulation methods like monitoring, mass trapping, mating disruption and attract-and-kill are described. The document concludes by discussing future strategies for behavioural manipulation in pest management.

1. INSECT BEHAVIOUR IN IPM- CONCEPT OF SUPER-NORMAL STIMULI,
BEHAVIOURAL MANIPULATION AS POTENTIAL TOOL IN PEST
MANAGEMENT
Presented by
Mr. Sabhavat Srinivasnaik
ID.No.RAD/2021-25
Course In-charge
Dr. P. Swarna Sree, Professor (Ento.)
Dr. A. Padmasri, Senior Scientist (Ento.)
DEPARTMENT OF ENTOMOLOGY
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE, RAJENDRANAGAR
PROFESSOR JAYASHANKAR TELANGANA STATE AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
Date: 21.4.2022 Venue: Seminar Hall

2. Preamble
Classification Behavioural Manipulation Methods
Applications of Behavioural Manipulation Methods
Conclusion
Stimuli and Types
CONTENTS
Case Study
Attributes of Stimuli for pest management
Concept of Super Normal Stimuli
Future Strategy
References
Recent Trends in Behavioural Manipulation Methods

3. PREAMBLE
 Insects-30%
 Rodents& others-10%
 Weeds-45%
 Diseases-20% loss
 Resistance
 Resurgence
 Residue
 Replacement
 Ecofriendly pest management practices
 Integrated Pest Management
 Behavioural Manipulation Methods/Behavioural control
 Not a new concept age old practice: Trap cropping
 80 -90 percent pesticide usage
Oerke,2005
Pestilential behaviour
4Rs

4. INSECT BEHAVIOUR IN IPM
 Behaviour is any action that an individual carries out in response to a stimulus or
its environment
 Information from its environment, processes that information, and acts
 Insect behaviour covers a very wide range of activities, including locomotion,
grooming, feeding, communication, reproduction, dispersal, flight, learning,
migration, host or prey selection, diapause and various responses
to environmental hazards such as temperature, humidity, parasites, and toxins
 There are two types of behaviour Innate behaviour and Learned behaviour
Rodriguez-Saona,2009

5. STIMULI
The behaviour of an insect results from the integration by its central nervous
system of a variety of inputs that derive from acting on
1. Exteroceptors (which sense events external to the insect),
2. Enteroceptors (which sense the internal physiological state of the insect)
3. Proprioceptors (which sense the relative positions of parts of the body)
 To manipulate a behaviour one must change either the inputs or the
processing of those inputs by the central nervous system
 Stimuli that generate these inputs
 Chemical stimuli/Tactile/Acoustic
Rodriguez-Saona,2009

6. ATTRIBUTES OF STIMULI
The choice of a stimulus to use for behavioural manipulation is usually
dependent upon a number of attributes including the following
1.Accessibility: The stimulus must be suitable for presentation in a form that
the insect can perceive.
2. Definability and reproducibility. The more precisely that the stimulus can
be defined, the more precisely it can be reproduced artificially.
3. Controllability. The ability to control various parameters of a stimulus,
including intensity and longevity, will give greater control in a behavioural
manipulation.
Rodriguez-Saona,2009

7. ATTRIBUTES OF STIMULI
4. Specificity. The more specific a stimulus is to a particular behaviour of a
pest, the more likely it can be used to manipulate that behaviour. Conversely, a
stimulus that is ubiquitous in the environment is unlikely to be useful for
manipulating specific behaviours
5. Practicability. Environmental hazards and cost of protecting a resource must
be within practical limits. For example, chemicals that are persistent and have
high mammalian toxicities may protect an edible resource but render it useless
for human consumption
Rodriguez-Saona,2009

8. CONCEPT OF BEHAVIOURAL MANIPULATION
Manipulation is defined as “the use of stimuli that either stimulate or
inhibit a behaviour and thereby change its expression”
Three principal elements of a behavioural manipulation method:
 Behaviour of the pest,
 Means by which the behaviour is manipulated appropriately
 Method that utilizes the behavioural manipulation for protection of a
resource from the pest
Manipulation of a pestilential
behaviour (e.g. feeding on the
resource) or a behaviour closely
related to the pestilential behaviour
(e.g. finding the resource) is more
likely to be useful for pest
management than manipulation of
behaviours unrelated to the resource
(e.g. mating)
Immigration of outside populations
Foster, 1997

9. CONCEPT OF BEHAVIOURAL MANIPULATION
 Using a stimuli to manipulate behaviour of a pest for the purpose of
protecting a valued resource
 The methods are divided into two categories: those that manipulate
behaviour over a long distance, e.g. Volatile chemicals, visual, and
auditory stimuli, and those that manipulate behaviour at a short
distance (< 1 cm), e.g. in volatile chemicals
 Protection of a resource from a pest is usually achieved by poisoning the
pest with a toxic pesticide, but it can also be achieved by manipulating a
behaviour of the pest
 The manipulation of a pest’s behaviour to protect a resource is not a new
concept. The practice of trap cropping, i.e. using a sacrificial resource
for the pest to attack, in order to protect a valued resource, has been known
for centuries
 Manipulation is defined as the use of stimuli that either stimulate or inhibit
a behaviour and thereby change its expression
Foster, 1997

10. BEHAVIOURAL MANIPULATION METHODS
Long distance methods
(Finding-type behaviours)
Short-distance methods
(Acceptance-type
behaviours)
1.Chemical stimuli: Sex pheromones
2.Visual Stimuli
3. Host plant volatiles
 Monitoring
 Mass trapping
 Mating disruption
 Attractant and Kill
 Attractants
 Repellents
 Stimulants
 Deterrants
Foster, 1997 & Mazzoni, 2021

11. CHEMICAL STIMULI- SEX PHEROMONES
Sex pheromones:
 Sex pheromones have been identified for a large number of insect pests,
particularly Lepidoptera
 Elicit responses from males
 Field and storage insect pests
 Limitation: Only one sex is attracted
 Combination of female/Male attractant
 Specificity
 Long-distance
 Longevity
Sex pheromone+ Food lure (Phenethyl propionate, Eugenol and Geraniol)
Aggregation pheromone:Both sexes, Cockroaches/weevils/Rhinoceros beetle/
Boll weevils
Mazzoni,2021

12. SEX PHEROMONES-APPLICATIONS
Monitoring  Identification and synthesis
 Controlled release devices and Traps
 Rubber septa, Sleeves or Reservoirs
 Pest detection/presence
Mass trapping
 Sufficient pest population
 Before mating, Oviposition
 Males more than once mate
 Frequent change of the traps
Mating disruption
 Saturating with synthetics
 Dispensers
 Cloud of pheromones
 Coalescence of plumes

13. SEX PHEROMONES APPLICATIONS
Attract and kill
 Attract-kill most widely used behavioural
manipulation for pest management
 The strategy of the method is simple: attract the
pests to a site where as many of them as possible
can be removed from the environment
 Sex pheromone/Food lure/Host plant volatiles
+Insecticide
 Methyl eugenol+Insecticide-Fruit flies
 Protein hydrolysates-Monitoring and both sexes Mazzoni,2021

14. CHEMICAL STIMULI APPLICATIONS
 The screwworm flies Cochliomyia hominivorax and Cochliomyia macellaria
are major pests of livestock in tropical America.
 These flies, which lay their eggs in wounds, are attracted to carrion, and raw
meat (often a combination of liver and sodium sulphide) is used in traps to
control or monitor them.
 A number of the chemicals in rotting meat that attract screwworm flies have
been identified and used as an attractant, originally called SWORMLURE. The
most effective formulation, now known as swormlure-4, contains ten
components, including butanol, several organic acids, phenol, cresol, indole,
and dimethyl disulfide
Mazzoni,2021

15. CHEMICAL STIMULI APPLICATIONS
SWASS consists of a pelletized formulation containing the chemical lure,
food (dried blood), a feeding stimulant (sugar), and an insecticide
Mazzoni,2021

16. HOST PLANT VOLATILES
 Host plant volatiles play a critical role in life of insects
 Host habitat finding, Host finding and host recognition, acceptance and
suitability
 Herbivorous insects-host plant volatiles to locate food, mate, oviposition and
hibernation sites
 Suitable habitat and dangerous habitat
 Successful development of offspring
 Mobile insects: Alate aphids, thrips -Transmission of viruses-disadvantage
 Specialist feeder and Generalist
De França,2020

17. HOST PLANT VOLATILES
Host plant volatiles can be classified into two types: Attractants and Repellents
De França,2020

18. HOST PLANT VOLATILES-ATTRACTANTS
Plant volatiles cause an insect orient its movement towards the emitting source

19. HOST PLANT VOLATILES-ATTRACTANTS
Plant volatiles cause an insect orient its movement towards the emitting source

21. HOST PLANT VOLATILES-REPELLENTS
 Plant volatiles cause an insect orient their movement away from the
emitting source
 Fewer plant derived repellents have studied and developed -Aphids
 Beta- Farnesene a common sesquiterpene and major component of alarm
pheromone of several aphid species
 Methyl Salicylate and Myrtenal - Black bean aphid, Aphis fabae
 4-Pentenyl isothiocyanate repellent to aphids
 Limonene and Ocimene and Germacrene D
 Not well utilised in case of Agricultural pest management
 Human health from mosquitoes and blackflies eg: DEET
De França,2020

22. STIMULANT METHODS
 After arriving at a resource, an insect is likely to contact additional (to
those perceived at greater distances) stimuli. These stimuli can either
stimulate a behaviour, keeping the insect at the resource, or inhibit that
behaviour.
 Most known stimulants are involved in either feeding or oviposition
 Feeding stimulants also are often common carbohydrates, proteins,
or fats that are easily obtained and relatively inexpensive
 Oviposition stimulants can be highly specific, even among pests that
threaten same resource, and expensive
 Combination with the toxins or the attract and kill techniques
 Protein hydrolysate in the eradication of tephritid fruit flies
Aluja,1992

23. STIMULANT METHODS
 Corn rootworms, Diabrotica spp
 Cucurbitacins are obtained by growing plants with high concentrations and
harvesting, drying, and grinding them to a powder that is combined with an
insecticide as bait
 Sorghum shoot fly was stimulated on non host plants (corn) by applying an
acetone extract of sorghum. In small field trials, the extract diverted
oviposition from the sorghum
Aluja,1992

24. DETERRANT METHODS
 A deterrent is a chemical that inhibits behaviour, such as feeding or
oviposition, when applied to a site where such behaviour normally occurs
 A deterrent is applied directly to a resource to prevent or reduce the effects
of a pestilential behaviour such as feeding
 a deterrent-treated site to a deterrent free site-non valued part of the
plant
 Neem-Azadirachtin
Aluja,1992
root fly, Delia radicum
pebble moth
sinapic acid

25. DETERRANT METHODS
 Polygodial, a plant-derived dialdehydic sesquiterpenoid -Spodoptera and
Heliothis species and for the aphid M. persicae
 Persistent and semipersistent plant viruses
 Barley yellow dwarf virus by the aphid Rhopalosiphum padi
 Fatty acids, such as Dodecanoic acid -Aphids
 Cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis cerasi-Oviposition deterrant
 Cabbage butterfly-Pieris spp.-Oviposition deterant

26. STIMULODETERRANT METHODS
 Combination with another method that attracts the pest to a non valued
resource in a stimulo-deterrent diversion
 Stimulo-Deterrant Strategy (SDD)
Mazzoni,2021

27. PUSH PULL STRATEGY

28. PUSH PULL STRATEGY

29. SPLAT
®
SPECIALIZED PHEROMONE AND LURE
APPLICAION TECHNOLOGY
Dr. Agenor Mafra-Neto
CEO OF ISCA TECHNOLOGIES
USA,CALIFORNIA.

30. SPLAT A CRF
It is an controlled release technology.
Chemical emulsion type CRF. Basically It Is Matrix type diffusion
system.
Developed by ISCA technologies, USA, California.
Used for the Semiochemicals and other pesticides.
In September 2009, the first SPLAT mating disruption
formulation, SPLAT LBAM HD-O, was approved by the EPA for
National Organic Program for organic certified farms.
Beginning in 2011, all SPLAT mating disruption products are
certified for use for organic production.
Mafra-Neto, 2013

31. MECHANISM OF PHEROMONE RELEASE
SPLAT: Aqueous component + Active ingredient + Additives+ Matrix
Aqueous component evaporation
Mafra-Neto, 2013

32. Mafra-Neto, 2013

33. Aerial Application
Caulking Gun
SPLAT-o-Gator
SPLAT Gator
Mafra-Neto, 2013

34. CONCEPT OF SUPER NORMAL STIMULI
 It is an exaggerated version of a stimulus to which there is an existing
response tendency, or any stimulus that elicits a response more
strongly than the stimulus for which it evolved.
 A stimulus that is ubiquitous in the environment is unlikely to be useful for
manipulating specific behaviours unless its intensity or quality can be
perceived by the insect above the background level.
 For example, “supernormal” visual targets (i.e. objects that reflect high
ratios of stimulatory to inhibitory wavelengths of light) are used to
outcompete the natural visual background reflecting a lower ratio of
stimulatory to inhibitory wavelengths
Prokopy,1988

36. VISUAL STIMULI METHODS
 Visual stimuli alone are much less commonly used than chemical stimuli
 Many hemipterans as well as species in other orders are attracted to
light in the green-yellow region of the spectrum
 Development of yellow sticky traps for monitoring a number of pests
Mazzoni,2021

37. CASE STUDY

39. CONCLUSION
HIPVs –Tritrophic interactions
Behavioural manipulation methods are ecofriendly pest management with high
benefit cost ratio
Behavioural manipulation methods are developed based on the external stimuli
which are being easily identified and reproduced
Sex pheromones, Traps and Dispensor technologies are highly established
based on behaviour manipulation
Less insecticide usage (only in Attractant and Kill (A&K) System)
Combination methods effectively manage the pests

40. FUTURE STRATEGIES
 Effect of abiotic factors on behaviour manipulation methods
 How the internal stimuli is supports the external stimuli ?
 Is there any effect of behavioural manipulation methods on
Natural enemies ?
 New combinations of behavioural manipulation methods
 More understandings of spectral reflectance pattern for host
selection by insects

41. REFERENCES
Allan S.A., Day J.F and Edman, J.D. 1987. Visual ecology of biting flies. Annu.
Rev. Entomol. 32:297–316
Aluja, M and Boller, E.F. 1992. Host marking pheromone of Rhagoletis cerasi:
foraging behaviour in response to synthetic pheromonal isomers. J. Chem.
Ecol. 18:1299–311
Barclay, H.J. 1988. Models for combining methods of pest control: food-baited
and pheromone-baited traps containing either insecticide or chemosterilant.
Bull. Entomol. Res. 78:573–90
Bartell, R.J. 1982. Mechanisms of communication disruption by pheromone in
the control of Lepidoptera: a review. Physiol. Entomol. 7:353–64
Baumhover, A.H., Graham, A.J., Bitler, B.A., Hopkins, D, New, W.D., Dudley,
F.H and Bushland, R.C. 1955. Screw-worm control through release of
sterilized flies. J. Econ. Entomol. 48:462–68

42. REFERENCES
De França, S.M., M.O. Breda, C.A. Badji and J.V.D.Oliveira.2020.The Use of Behavioral
Manipulation Techniques On Synthetic Insecticides Optimization In: Insecticides -
Development of Safer and More Effective Technologies. IntechOpen: 177-196
Flint S. 1985. A comparison of various traps for Glossina spp. (Glossinidae) and other
Diptera. Bull. Entomol. Res. 75:529–34
Foster, S.P and M.O.Harris.1997.Behavioural manipulation methods for insect pest-
management. Annu. Rev. Entomol., 42:123-46
Mazzoni, V and G.Anfora.2021. Behavioural Manipulation for Pest Control. Insects, 12:
287
Rodriguez-Saona, C.R. and L.L.Stelinski.2009.Behaviour modifying strategies in IPM:
Theory and Practice. In: Integrated Pest Management Reviews, pp263-315.