Module for the course Applied Entomology (Biol 30?

) given at undergraduate level

Table of contents

Overview----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Beneficial Insects

1.1- Insects and pollination-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.2 Commercial products derived from insects----------------------------------------------------

2- Harmful insects--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2.1 Insects attacking cultivated plants-------------------------------------------------------------

2.2 Control of insects attacking plants

2.3 Insects and major vector-borne diseases-----------------------------------------------

3.Selected references------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4. Appendix--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Overview of the module

Insects are the dominant groups of animals on the earth today. They far surpass all other

terrestrial animals in numbers, and they occur practically everywhere. Several hundred thousand

different kinds have been described- three times as many as there are in the rest of the animal

kingdom and some authorities believe that the total number of different kinds may approach 30

million. More than a thousand kinds may occur in a fair sized back yard, and their population

often numbers many millions per acre.

A great many insects are extremely valuable to humans, and society could not exist in its present

form without them. By their pollinating activities they make possible the production of many

agricultural crops, including many orchard fruits, nuts, clovers, vegetables, cotton, and tobacco;

they provide us with honey, beeswax, silk, and other products of commercial value; they serve as

food for many birds, fish, and other beneficial animals; they perform valuable services as

scavengers; they help keep harmful animals and plants in check; they have been useful in

medicine and in scientific research, and they are looked upon as interesting animals by people in

all walks of life. A few insects are harmful and cause enormous losses each year in agricultural

crops and stored products, and they may transmit diseases that seriously affect the health of

humans and other animals.

In General Entomology course Module, students were taught about the basic aspects of insects

such as how insects are different from other animals and arthropods, how insects evolved, insects

behavior, an atomy, physiology and morphology of insects, brief aspects of insect ecology and

insect classification. In general, General Entomology gives students the real picture of insects.
However, students should now the application area of entomology in a real world. Hence, the

current modules will be a road map for the students to know how insects positively and

negatively affect human being. Moreover, this module will instruct students how to conserve

beneficial insects and control the harmful ones.

Unit 1- Beneficial Insects

It is difficult if not possible to estimate the value of insects to human society in terms of dollars

and cents. The pollinating services of insects are worth about $ 9 billion annually in the United

States, and commercial products derived from insects are worth about $ 300 million more. No

value can be put on the role insects play as entomophagous animals, as scavengers, and in

research. It seems safe to say the insects are worth about $ 20 billion annually.

1.1- Insects and pollination

Sexual reproduction in the higher plants is made possible by the process of pollination. This

process consists of the transfer of pollen (the male germ cell) from the stamens to the stigma,

from the stigma a pollen tube grows down the style to the female germ cell. This process must

take place in particularly in every plant before the flower will bear seed. As the seed develops the

tissues around it swell and form the fruit.

A few of the higher plants are self-pollinating, but most are cross-pollinated , that is, the pollen

of one flower must be transferred to the stigma of another plant. Pollen is transferred from one

flower to another in two principal ways, by wind and by insects. Wind pollinated plants produce

a large amount of dry pollen that is blown far and wide, such plants manage to reproduce
because a few of the million of pollen grains produced happen to land on the stigma of the right

flower. Insect pollinated plants produce smaller amounts of pollen, which is usually sticky and

adheres to the bodies of insects that visit the flower. This pollen is later rubbed off the insect onto

stigma of another flower, in most cases more or less by accident as far as the insect is concerned.

Review question 1. List insect species that are known for plant pollination and attach some case

histories.
 1.2 Commercial products derived from insects

Certain insects provide sources of commercially important products such as honey, silk, wax,

dyes, or pigments, all of which can be of direct benefit to man.

1.2.1 Honey and beeswax

Honey bees are found in the genus Apis, primarily distinguished by the production and storage of

honey and the construction of perennial, colonial nests out of wax. Honey bees are the only

extant members of the tribe Apini, all in the genus Apis. Currently, there are only seven

recognized species of honey bee with a total of 44 subspecies. Honey bees represent only a small

fraction of the approximately 20,000 known species of bees. Some other types of related bees

produce and store honey, but only members of the genus Apis are true honey bees.

Honey bees appear to have their center of origin in South and South East Asia. The first Apis

bees appear in the fossil record at the EoceneOligocene (2356 Mya) boundary, in European
deposits. The origin of these prehistoric honey bees does not necessarily indicate that Europe is

where the genus originated, only that it occurred there at that time. There are few known fossil

deposits in South Asia, the suspected region of honey bee origin, and fewer still have been

thoroughly studied.

No Apis species existed in the New World during human times before the introduction of Apis

mellifera by Europeans. There is only one fossil species documented from the New World, Apis

nearctica, known from a single 14-million-year old specimen from Nevada.

The close relatives of modern honey beese.g. bumblebees and stingless beesare also social

to some degree, and social behavior seems a plesiomorphic trait that predates the origin of the

genus. Among the extant members of Apis, the more basal species make single, exposed combs,

while the more recently evolved species nest in cavities and have multiple combs, which has

greatly facilitated their domestication.

The chromosome counts of female bees for the three clades are Micrapis 2N=16, Megapis

2N=16, Apis 2N=32. Drones of all species have 1N chromosome counts.

Drones (males) are produced from unfertilized eggs and therefore represent only the DNA of the

queen that laid the eggs, i.e. have only a mother. Workers and queens (both female) result from

fertilized eggs and therefore have both a mother and a father. A modified form of

parthenogenesis controls sex differentiation. The sex allele is polymorphic and so long as two

different variants are present, a female bee results. If both sex alleles are identical, diploid drones

are produced. Honeybees detect and destroy diploid drones after the eggs hatch.
Queens typically mate with multiple drones on more than one mating flight. Once mated, they

lay eggs and fertilize them as needed from sperm stored in the spermatheca. Since the number of

sex alleles is limitedabout 18 are known in Apisthere is a high probability that a queen will

mate with one or more drones having sex alleles identical with one of the sex alleles in the

queen. It is therefore typical for a queen to produce a percentage of diploid drone eggs.

Most species have historically been cultured or at least exploited for honey and beeswax by

humans indigenous to their native ranges. Only two of these species have been truly

domesticated, one (Apis mellifera) at least since the time of the building of the Egyptian

pyramids, and only that species has been moved extensively beyond its native range.

Bee keeping

Two species of honey bee, A. mellifera and A. cerana indica, are often maintained, fed, and

transported by beekeepers. Modern hives also enable beekeepers to transport bees, moving from

field to field as the crop needs pollinating and allowing the beekeeper to charge for the

pollination services they provide, revising the historical role of the self-employed beekeeper, and

favoring large-scale commercial operation.

Beekeepers in Western countries have been reporting slow declines of stocks for many years,

apparently due to impaired protein production, changes in agricultural practice, or unpredictable

weather. In early 2007, abnormally high die-offs (3070% of hives) of European honey bee

colonies occurred in North America; such a decline seems unprecedented in recent history. This

has been dubbed "Colony collapse disorder" (CCD); it is unclear whether this is simply an
accelerated phase of the general decline due to stochastically more adverse conditions in 2006, or

a novel phenomenon. Research has so far failed to determine what causes it, but the weight of

evidence is tentatively leaning towards CCD being a syndrome rather than a disease as it seems

to be caused by a combination of various contributing factors rather than a single pathogen or

poison.

As in a few other types of eusocial bees, a colony generally contains one queen bee, a fertile

female; seasonally up to a few thousand drone bees or fertile males; and a large seasonally

variable population of sterile female worker bees. Details vary among the different species of

honey bees, but common features include:

1. Eggs are laid singly in a cell in a wax honeycomb, produced and shaped by the worker bees.

Using her spermatheca, the queen actually can choose to fertilize the egg she is laying, usually

depending on what cell she is laying in. Drones develop from unfertilised eggs and are haploid,

while females (queens and worker bees) develop from fertilised eggs and are diploid. Larvae are

initially fed with royal jelly produced by worker bees, later switching to honey and pollen. The

exception is a larva fed solely on royal jelly, which will develop into a queen bee. The larva

undergoes several moltings before spinning a cocoon within the cell, and pupating.

Young worker bees clean the hive and feed the larvae. When their royal jelly producing glands

begin to atrophy, they begin building comb cells. They progress to other within-colony tasks as

they become older, such as receiving nectar and pollen from foragers, and guarding the hive.

Later still, a worker takes her first orientation flights and finally leaves the hive and typically

spends the remainder of her life as a forager.

3. Worker bees cooperate to find food and use a pattern of "dancing" (known as the bee dance or

waggle dance) to communicate information regarding resources with each other; this dance

varies from species to species, but all living species of Apis exhibit some form of the behavior. If

the resources are very close to the hive, they may also exhibit a less specific dance commonly

known as the "Round Dance".

4. Honey bees also perform tremble dances, which recruit receiver bees to collect nectar from

returning foragers.

5. Virgin queens go on mating flights away from their home colony, and mate with multiple

drones before returning. The drones die in the act of mating.

6. Colonies are established not by solitary queens, as in most bees, but by groups known as

"swarms", which consist of a mated queen and a large contingent of worker bees. This group

moves en masse to a nest site that has been scouted by worker bees beforehand. Once they

arrive, they immediately construct a new wax comb and begin to raise new worker brood. This

type of nest founding is not seen in any other living bee genus, though there are several groups of

Vespid wasps that also found new nests via swarming (sometimes including multiple queens).

Also, stingless bees will start new nests with large numbers of worker bees, but the nest is

constructed before a queen is escorted to the site, and this worker force is not a true "swarm".

In cold climates honey bees stop flying when the temperature drops below about 10 C (50 F)

and crowd into the central area of the hive to form a "winter cluster". The worker bees huddle

around the queen bee at the center of the cluster, shivering in order to keep the center between 27

C (81 F) at the start of winter (during the broodless period) and 34 C (93 F) once the queen
resumes laying. The worker bees rotate through the cluster from the outside to the inside so that

no bee gets too cold. The outside edges of the cluster stay at about 89 C (4648 F). The colder

the weather is outside, the more compact the cluster becomes. During winter, they consume their

stored honey to produce body heat. The amount of honey consumed during the winter is a

function of winter length and severity but ranges in temperate climates from 15 to 50 kg (30 to

100 pounds).

Values of honey bee

Pollinators

Species of Apis are generalist floral visitors, and will pollinate a large variety of plants, but by no

means all plants. Of all the honey bee species, only Apis mellifera has been used extensively for

commercial pollination of crops and other plants. The value of these pollination services is

commonly measured in the billions of dollars.

Honey bee pollination

Honey production

Honey is the complex substance made when the nectar and sweet deposits from plants and trees

are gathered, modified and stored in the honeycomb by honey bees as a food source for the

colony. All living species of Apis have had their honey gathered by indigenous peoples for

consumption, though for commercial purposes only Apis mellifera and Apis cerana have been

exploited to any degree. Honey is sometimes also gathered by humans from the nests of various

stingless bees.

In 1911 a bee culturist estimated that a quart (approx. 1 litre) of honey represented bees flying

over an estimated 48,000 miles to gather the nectar needed to produce the honey.

Bee wax production

Worker bees of a certain age will secrete beeswax from a series of glands on their abdomens.

They use the wax to form the walls and caps of the comb. As with honey, beeswax is gathered

for various purposes.

Bees collect pollen in the pollen basket and carry it back to the hive. In the hive, pollen is used as

a protein source necessary during brood-rearing. In certain environments, excess pollen can be

collected from the hives of A. mellifera and A. cerana. It is often eaten as a health supplement.

Propolis production
Propolis is a resinous mixture that honey bees collect from tree buds, sap flows, or other

botanical sources. It is used as a sealant for unwanted open spaces in the hive. Propolis is used

for small gaps (approximately 6 millimeters (0.24 in) or less), while larger spaces are usually

filled with beeswax. Its color varies depending on its botanical source, the most common being

dark brown. Propolis is sticky at and above room temperature, 20 C (68 F). At lower

temperatures, it becomes hard.

Life cycle of honeybee

There are three types of honey bees: drones, workers and queens; two sexes: male and female;

and two female castes: queens and workers.

Drones

Males or drones are typically haploid, having only one set of chromosomes. They are produced

by the queen if she chooses not to fertilize an egg; or by a non-fertilized laying worker. Diploid

drones may be produced if an egg is fertilized but is homozygous for the sex-determination

allele. Drones take 24 days to develop and may be produced anywhere from summer through

autumn. Drones have large eyes used to locate queens during mating flights. Drones do not have

a sting.

Workers

Workers are female and have two sets of chromosomes. They are produced from an egg that the

queen has selectively fertilized from stored sperm. Workers typically develop in 21 days. A

typical colony may contain as many as 60,000 worker bees. Workers exhibit a wider range of
behaviors than either queens or drones. Their duties change upon the age of the bee in the

following order (beginning with cleaning out their own cell after eating through their capped

brood cell): feed brood; receive nectar; clean hive; guard duty; and foraging. Some workers

engage in other specialized behaviors, such as "undertaking" (removing corpses of their nest

mates from inside the hive).

Workers have morphological specializations: including the corbiculum or pollen basket,

abdominal glands that produce beeswax, brood-feeding glands, and barbs on the sting. Under

certain conditions (for example, if the colony becomes queenless), a worker may develop

ovaries.

Queens

Queen honey bees, like workers, are female. They are created at the decision of the worker bees

by feeding a larva only royal jelly throughout its development, rather than switching from royal

jelly to pollen once the larva grows past a certain size. Queens are produced in oversized cells

and develop in only 16 days. Queens have a different morphology and behavior from worker

bees. In addition to the greater size of the queen, she has a functional set of ovaries, and a

spermatheca, which stores and maintains sperm after she has mated. The sting of queens is not

barbed like a worker's sting, and queens lack the glands that produce beeswax. Once mated,

queens may lay up to 2,000 eggs per day. Queens produce a variety of pheromones that regulate

behavior of workers, and helps swarms track the queen's location during the migratory phase.
Queen Bee

Defense

Apis cerana japonica forming a ball around two hornets. The body heat trapped by the ball will

overheat and kill the hornets.

All honey bees live in colonies where the workers will sting intruders as a form of defense, and

alarmed bees will release a pheromone that stimulates the attack response in other bees. The

different species of honey bees are distinguished from all other bee species (and virtually all

other Hymenoptera) by the possession of small barbs on the sting, but these barbs are found only

in the worker bees. The sting and associated venom sac of honey bees are also modified so as to

pull free of the body once lodged (autotomy), and the sting apparatus has its own musculature

and ganglion, which allow it to keep delivering venom once detached. The worker dies after the

sting is torn from its body. Despite common belief, it is the only species of bee to die after

stinging. But if left undisturbed, after stinging through human skin for example, a honey bee will

slowly rotate, effectively unscrewing its sting, and fly away intact
It is presumed that this complex apparatus, including the barbs on the sting, evolved specifically

in response to predation by vertebrates, as the barbs do not usually function (and the sting

apparatus does not detach) unless the sting is embedded in fleshy tissue. While the sting can also

penetrate the flexible exoskeletal joints in appendages of other insects (and is used in fights

between queens), in the case of Apis cerana defense against other insects such as predatory

wasps is usually performed by surrounding the intruder with a mass of defending worker bees,

who vibrate their muscles so vigorously that it raises the temperature of the intruder to a lethal

level. It was previously thought that the heat alone was responsible for killing intruding wasps,

but recent experiments have demonstrated that it is the increased temperature in combination

with increased carbon dioxide levels within the ball that produces the lethal effect. This

phenomenon is also used to kill a queen perceived as intruding or defective, an action known to

beekeepers as balling the queen, named for the ball of bees formed.

In the case of those honey bee species with open combs (e.g., A. dorsata), would-be predators

are given a warning signal that takes the form of a "Mexican wave" that spreads as a ripple

across a layer of bees densely packed on the surface of the comb when a threat is perceived, and

consists of bees momentarily arching their bodies and flicking their wings.

Communication

Honey bees are known to communicate through many different chemicals and odors, as is

common in insects, but also using specific behaviours that convey information about the quality

and type of resources in the environment, and where these resources are located. The details of

the signalling being used vary from species to species; for example, the two smallest species,

Apis andreniformis and Apis florea, dance on the upper surface of the comb, which is horizontal
(not vertical, as in other species), and worker bees orient the dance in the actual compass

direction of the resource to which they are recruiting.

Symbolism

Both the Atharva Veda and the ancient Greeks associated lips anointed with honey with the gift

of eloquence and even of prescience. The priestess at Delphi was the "Delphic Bee". The Quran

has a chapter titled The Bee.

A community of honey bees has often been employed throughout history by political theorists as

a model of human society:

"This image occurs in Aristotle and Plato; in Virgil and Seneca; in Erasmus and Shakespeare; in

Marx and Tolstoy.

Honey bees, signifying immortality and resurrection, were royal emblems of the Merovingians,

revived by Napoleon. The bee is the heraldic emblem too of the Barberini

Emergence of a black bee (Apis mellifera mellifera)

Honey bee eggs shown in cut open wax cells

Drone pupae

Eggs and larvae

Review question 2. Write 5-10 pages on the contribution of honey bee to the economy of

Ethiopia.

1.2.2 Silk
The silk industry is an ancient one, extending as far back as 2500 B.C. The rearing of silkworms

and the processing and weaving of silk are principally an oriental industry, but they are practiced

to some extent in a number of other countries, especially Spain, France, and Italy. Several types

of silkworms have been utilized for the production of commercial silk, but the most important is

Bombyx mori, a domesticated species. Although silk is at the present time being replaced by

various synthetic fibers, it is still a very important industry. The annual world production of silk

is about 65-75 million pounds.

Review question 3. Write 5-10 pages on the contribution of silk worm to the economy of

Ethiopia.
1.2.3 Shellac

Shellac is produced from the secretions of the lac insects, Laccifer lacca, a type of scale insects

occurring on fig, banyan, and other plants in India, Burma, Indochina, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, and

Philippines Islands. These insects form encrustations 6 to 13 mm thick on twigs of the host plant.

The twigs containing these encrustations are collected and ground, the seed lac so formed is

melted and dried in sheets or flakes, which are shipped to a processing plant where the shellac is

made. About $9 million worth is shellac is used annually in the United States.

1.2.4 Dyes and other materials

Several insects have been used in the manufacture of dyes. The cochineal insect, Dactylopius

coccus, a scale insect somewhat similar to mealybugs, is used for the production of cochineal

dyes. These insects feed on Opuntia cacti (prickly pear) in the south western states and Mexico.

The dyeis now largely replaced by aniline dyes. Dyes have also been made from other types of

scale insects and from certain cynipid galls. Some of the cynipid galls have also been used as a

source of tannic acid, which is used in the manufacture of ink and for other purposes. Certain

drugs have been made from the dried bodies of a European blister beetle and the Spanishfly.

Many insects, such as bellgram mites and crickets are also sold as fish bait.

1.2.5 Entomophagous insects

Insects have a high reproductive capacity and are potentially able to build up tremendous

populations, but they seldom do so, largely because of the many animals that feed on them. A

considerable proportion of these entomophagous or insect eating animals consists of insects.

The check exerted upon insect pests by entomophagous insects is a very important factor in

keeping down the populations of pest species. Probably no method that people can use to control

insects will compare with the control exerted by entomophagous animals, yet the public has little

knowledge or appreciation of this enormous benefits.

A classic example of the successful control of an insect pest by a predator is that of the cottony

cushion scale, Icerya purchase, a serious pest of citrus in California, by a ladybird beetle. This

scale was first found in California in 1868 and, in 15 years, threatened to destroy the citrus

industry in southern California. In 1888-1889 a ladybird beetle, Rodolia cardinalis, was

introduced from Australia (where it was thought the scale originated), and in less than two years

the scale was under complete control. The insects considered as entomophagous are grouped into

two. These are parasitoids and predators. Most parasitoids come from the order Hymenoptera

and one genus of Diptera. The orders Coleoptera, Hemiptera and Nuroptera contain large number

of predators. There are also pathogens which cause disease to insects and they are called

entomopathogen. Entomophagous insects and entomopathgens together called natural enemies if

they occur natuallry, but called biological control if their activities are enhanced by human being.

There are three approaches of biological control which include conservation, Augmentation

(inoculation and inundative) and classical/introduction.

Review question- List insect orders that are useful in the biological control of insect pests

1.2.6 Insects as scavengers

Insect scavengers are those that feed on decomposing plants or animals or on dung. Such insects

assist in converting these materials into simpler substances that are returned to the soil, where

they are available to plants, they also serve to remove unhealthful and obnoxious materials from

our surroundings. Insects such as the wood-boring beetles, termites, carpenter ants, and other

wood feeders are important agents in hastening the conversion of fallen trees and logs to soil.

The galleries of these insects serve as avenous of entrance for fungi and other decay organisms
that hasten the breakdown of the wood. Dung beetles (Scarabaeidae and others) hasten the

decomposition of dung. Carrion feeding insects such as blow flies, Carrion beetles, skin beetles

(Dermestidae and Troginae ), and others are of considerable value in the removal of carrion from

the landscape. Insect scavengers are essential to maintaining a balance in nature. Into Australia

and some western states to reduce fly populations in cattle areas. Some of the dung feeding

scarabs have been introduced. These beetles feed on cow dung, and they clean up the dung so

quickly that the flies breeding in the dung do not have time to complete their development.

1.2.7 The importance of soil insects

Many types of insects spend a part of or all their lives in the soil. The soil provides the insects a

home or nest, protection, and often food. The soil is tunneled in such a way that it becomes more

aerated and it is enriched by excretions and dead bodies of the insects. Soil insects improve the

physical properties of the soil and add to its organic content. Soil insects vary in feeding habits.

Many feed on humus or decaying plant materials; some feed on the underground parts of

growing plants (and may be injurious), many are scavengers. Many feed above ground and use

the soil only as a nest site; some of these, such as ants, digger, wasps, and bees, bring food into

the soil in connection with feeding the young. Soil insects are often numerous. The population

of springtails alone may be millions per acre. Ants are sometimes extremely abundant; they

generally nest in the soil and feed above ground. Other important soil-inhabiting insects are

mole-cricket, cicadas (nymphal stages), termites, various burrowing bees and wasps, many

beetles and flies (usually in the larval stage only), and some aphids.

1.2.8 Insects as destroyers of undesirable plants

A large proportion of the insects feeds on plants, but only a small number of these are considered

pests. Many of the others may be beneficial because they destroy noxious weeds, cacti, or certain

undesirable deciduous plants. It often happens that when a plant is introduced into geographic

area it thrives to such an extent that it becomes a pest. In some cases plant feeding insects have

been introduced to bring this plant under control.

1.2.9 Insects as food of people and animals

A great many animals utilize insects as food. Insectivorous animals may be important to human

kind as food (for example, many fish, game birds, and mammals), they may have an aesthetic

value (many birds and other vertebrates) or they may act as important agents in the control of

insect pests. People are sometimes insectivorous themselves. Many freshwater fish feed on

insects such as mayflies, stoneflies, cadisflies, mosquitoes larvae and beetles among others.

1.2.10 Insects in Medicine and Surgery

For centuries people have used insects or their products as therapeutic agents. Cantharidin, an

extract from the bodies of blister beetles, has been used in the treatment of certain conditions of

the urogenital system. Bee venom has been used in the treatment of arthritis. Malaria has been

induced in patients suffering from paresis, to produce high body temperatures.

1.2.11 The use of insects in scientific research

Basic physiological processes, as well as such biological phenomena as inheritance, population

dynamics, variation, and evolution are essentially similar in all animals and since many insects

have a short life cycle and relatively easy to maintain in the laboratory, they are frequently used

in scientific studies of these processes. For example, insect populations are used as an index of
ecological conditions. In studies of stream or lake pollution, the degree of pollution can be

determined by the type and amount of insect life present.

1.2.12 The aesthetic value of insects

Insects become fascinating animals when one begins to study them carefully. For many people

insect study provides a stimulating hobby, one just as interesting as the study of birds, flowers, or

other natural objects. The beauty of insects has been utilized for patterns by artists, jewelers, and

designers. Some of the butterflies, moths, and beetles have provided basic patterns in many types

of art.

1.2.13 Conservation of beneficial insects

There are a number methods by which beneficial insects are conserved. These include use of

selective pesticide, use of correct rate and frequency of pesticide, diversification of crops, strip

planting of flowering plants, etc.

Review question- Prepare 10 pages essay on conservation methods of beneficial insects.

2- Harmful insects

Insects that are detrimental to humans or human concerns of agriculture production are known as

pests. Human society suffers tremendous losses from the feeding and other activities of insects.

Many insects feed on cultivated plants. Others feed on stored materials, clothing, or wood that

have economic value.

2.1 Insects attacking cultivated plants

Most types of plants including crops are attacked by insects. The injury is caused by the insects

feeding or ovipositing on the plant or serving as agents in the transmission of plant diseases. This

injury may vary from a reduction of yield to the total destruction of the plant.

2.1.1 Plant injury by feeding

Insect feeding to plants produces injury of various types, and the severity of the injury may vary

all the way from only very slight damage to the death of the plant. For example a number of

insect pests are feeding on maize in Ethiopia. Some aspects of these insects will be presented

below including the control methods (maize insects pests recorded in Ethiopia- case study).

Maize is among the major crop grown in Ethiopia mainly for food purposes. The yield potential

of maize is around 4 t/ha. However, this potential is not realized mainly due to insect pests. The

average yield losses due to insect pests are estimated to 20-50% in Ethiopia which under severe

condition results in 100% crop failure. There are numerous insect pests attacking maize in the

field, but relatively a few species are economically important on maize plant at different growth

stages seedling to maturity.

Pests of seedling

Cutworms (Agrotis ipsilon (Hufnagel))

There are different species of cutworms attacking maize seedlings. However, the most common

species attacking maize in Ethiopia at seedling stage is Agrotis ipsilon.

Nature of damage: Larvae of cutworms cut maize seedlings at or a little below ground level,

make small holes along the initial leaves, or remove sections from the leaf margins (Figure 1).
On older plants large cutworms feed on the stems just below the surface, leaving cavities that

cause the plants to wilt and eventually die. Most cutworm feedings takes place at night. Some

may occur during the day, but cutworms generally remain sheltered below the ground at that

time.

A cutworm and a damaged maize plant

Description and life cycle: Removal of the soil around the cut or injured seedlings or older

plants will expose two or three young, small cutworm of 0.5 to 1.0 cm in length or a single, oily

or greasy large (4 to 5 cm long), grayish, brownish, or black worm. The larvae curve their bodies

into a C shape and remain motionless for a short period when disturbed (Figure 1). After

molting for six times, they develop into brown pupae in cells prepared by the larvae a few

centimeters below the soil surface. The adults are 2 to 3 cm long and dull brown, gray, or black

with markings on the front wings. The wing markings of the adults, which are strong fliers, vary

according to the species. Females deposit their eggs on plant stems or on the surface of moist

soil. Depending on the location, one to three or four generation may occur in a year.
Adult moth of cutworm

Geographical distribution: Very common in middle altitude areas of Ethiopia such as Bako,

Hawassa, Arsi-Negele, etc.

Control options:

Dig into the soil each morning and destroy any cutworms found there.

Plant later in the season, when cutworms aren't active.

Flood maize field with irrigation water.

Encourage hungry birds to visit your garden by placing birdbaths and feeders near the

planting beds, so that they collect cutworms.

Apply beneficial nematodes when the cutworms first appear in the spring. Nematodes

attack the cutworms by laying eggs inside the caterpillar. Ravenous hatchlings consume

the cutworm before it can pupate into an adult moth.

Place bran mixed with Bacillus thuringiensis, an organic control for caterpillars, over the

surface of new planting beds one week prior to planting.

Early planting and deep plowing

Different species of stem borers and termites also cause damage to maize at seedling stage, but

they rarely cause economic losses. If they happen to become major pests, some of the control

measures mentioned at a different developmental stage of the crop can be applied.

Insect pests attacking maize Foliage and Tassel

Maize streak virus vectors leafhoppers

Cicaduina spp.

Nature of damage: this insect does not cause economically significant damage through its

feeding, but transmits the maize streak virus (harbored by several wild and cultivated

graminacious plants), which itself can cause severe injury to maize. The initial symptoms of the

disease are small, whitish spots, which become colorless streaks running parallel to the veins

along the entire length of the leaf. When the plant is infected at the seedling stage, this streaking

appears on all except the lowest leaves. Moreover, the plants become stunted and, though they

produce later, the plant will produce smaller than normal ears.

Leaf hopper (left) and the symptom disease (maize streak virus (right)) it transmits.
Description and life cycle: Either nymphs or adults, both of which may be found feeding and

resting in leaf whorls, can transmit the maize streak virus. The leafhopper is straw yellow and 3

mm long and has a pair of black dots between its eyes.

Geographic distribution: Maize streak virus, and its leafhopper vectors are common in

Gambella area in particular and western Ethiopia in general, though they can be found in other

parts of Ethiopia as well.

Control options:

Cultural control

Cicadulina populations generally increase in irrigated cereals and grasslands, or in wild grasses

during rainy seasons. They disperse away from these areas when they dry out and become

unfavourable. Thus, control can be achieved by planting maize well away from previously

irrigated cereals or grassland; in particular, planting downwind of such areas should be avoided.

Staggered planting of crops will favour multiplication of the vector and increase the risk of MSV

infection in the later plantings; thus, planting synchronously over a wide area is recommended. A

barrier of 10 m of bare ground between maize fields and previously infested crops can reduce

MSV incidence, by inhibiting trivial movement of leafhoppers. Removal of remnants of cereal

crops serving as infection sources will assist control. Removal of MSV-infected maize plants

(roguing) at an early stage is also beneficial.

Host-plant rsistance

Many resistant hybrid maize varieties were developed. However, many yield poorly compared

with existing local susceptible varieties under certain conditions, or have other undesirable

qualities. Cross-pollination with other varieties leads to breakdown of MSV resistance, so it is

important to use certified seed at each planting. Emana etal. (2004) reported that Gambella

Composite coupled with some insecticides such as endosulfan give good control of the vectors.

Armyworms

Though there are different species of army worm causing damage to maize, the commonest

species is what is known as the African army worm, Spodoptera exempta which is a sporadic

pest occurring every 2-3 years in an outbreak form in Ethiopia and nearby countries such as

Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

Nature of damage: extensive leaf damage, which becomes quite noticeable as the leaves unfold

is caused by the small, dark-green worms. Upon hatching they begin to feed by scraping the leaf

epidermis later migrate to the whorl, where they feed voraciously. Late infestation of the whorl

damages the tassel and all the ear parts in a manner similar to that of the corn earworm. In hot,

dry weather, full grown larvae that have dropped to the ground before pupation will begin to feed

at the base of the plant, cutting the tender stalk.

Description and life cycle: Usually, only one full-grown armyworm is found in the whorl, since

at the second or third larval in star it starts to show cannibalistic tendencies. After six larval

instars, the full-grown (3-cm-long), grayish brown worm drops to the ground and pupates in an

earthen cell a few centimeters below the soil surface. The adults, dark-gray moths, 20 to 25 mm

long with a conspicuous white spot on the extreme tip of the hind wings, lay fuzz covered

clusters of a few to several hundred, white, pinkish, or light-green eggs usually on the underside

of leaves. Larvae emerge from the eggs simultaneously, at which point their mortality rate

extremely high as a result of factors such as rain, predators, and parasitoids.

 Geographical distribution: This insect is one of the most important pests of maize in the

Americas, causing damage from the early seedling to prematurity stages. Species closely related

to it are found in Africa and Asia.

Control options:

Different organo-phospahate (endosulfan, malthion, fentrothion, etc.) and

carbamate (carbaryl) are recommended for use when there is an outbreak

Biological control mainly using entomo-pathogens eg metharizium and

Bt

Forcasting the occurrence of the outbreak using different types of traps such as

light and phermone traps

Army worm larvae feeding on maize leaves and the adult moth laying eggs on the leaf.

Corn aphid

The species of aphid damaging maize is known as Rhopalosiphum maidis (Fitch).

Nature of damage: The role of this insect as a vector of the sugarcane mosaic virus, maize

dwarf-mosiac virus, and maize leaf-fleck virus makes it a pest of considerable economic
importance. Diseased plants may become stunted, show a conspicuous yellowish mottling, and

turn reddish as they mature. Young plants that have been infected seldom produce ears.

Piercing of the leaves and sucking of plants fluids by the insect causes some yellowish mottling,

but this damage is seldom of economic importance. Sugary droplets excreted by the aphids favor

the development of black molds and make the plants sticky. These insects usually attack maize

plants at the end of the mid-whorl stage. Their colonies may completely cover emerging tassels

and the surrounding leaves, preventing pollen release. In severe outbreaks the ear shoot is also

infested and seed set may be affected.

Description and life cycle: The small, greenish blue adult females do not lay eggs but give birth

to living nymphs. In crowded colonies winged forms are produced that eventually migrate to

other plant. Skins that have been shed give the colonies a whitish appearance.

Geographic distribution: this insect is distributed worldwide including Ethiopia

Control option:

Prior to Tasseling - Corn leaf aphid control is most effective 2 to 3 weeks prior to tasseling. It is

rarely advisable after this period. During this period if the number of aphid per plant reach 15

apply Chlorpyrifos or malathion at the rate of 2lt/ha particularly in the highlands. Maize grown

in lowland and intermediate elevations are rarely damaged by aphids as the parasitism rates are

very high.

During Pollen Shed - Although control is not normally required once the tassels have emerged,

on occasion aphids may interfere with pollination and treatment may be warranted . If greater

than 50% of the tassels are covered with aphids and their honeydew prior to 50% completion of
pollination and the plants are under stress, treatment may be needed if the amount of pollen

being shed is insufficient for good pollination. If control is a must use the same insecticide at the

same rate. .

Colonies of corn aphids on maize leaves and stems

Pests of the Stem, Root, Ear and Tassel

Stem borers

Spotted stem borer, Chilo partellus (Swinhoe)

Nature of damage: The initial symptom of infestation on young plants is rows of oval

perforations in leaves of the unfolding whorl. This damage is caused by the feedng of the young

larvae. As they develop, the larvae tunnel into the leaf midribs, damage the growing point

{causing a condition referred to as dead heart}and bore into the stem.

Description and life cycle: The young stem borers are small, spotted, and yellowish. When fully

grown they are 20 to 25 mm long and spotted, with colored stripes along the back of the body.

Before developing into pupae, the larvae prepare an exit for the adult by leaving intact at the end

of their tunnels only the thin exterior wall of the stem, which reach about 15 mm long, deposit

white, scalelike eggs in overlapping rows, usually on the underside of leaves.

Geographical distribution: occurs in all maize growing areas of Ethiopia.

Control options

Cultural practices

Intercropping maize with non-hosts crops like cassava or legumes like cowpea can reduce

spotted stem borer damage. Alternatively, maize can be intercropped with a repellent plant such

as silver leaf desmodium (Desmodium uncinatum) and a trap plant, such as Napier grass

(Pennisetum purpureum), molasses grass (Melinis minutiflora) as a border crop around this

intercrop to protect maize from stem borers. The trap plant draws the adult female away from the

crop. More eggs are laid on the trap plant than on the crop but the larvae develop poorly or not at

all on the trap plant. This practice is known as "push-pull strategy.

Good crop hygiene through the destruction of maize residues by burning to get rid of the larvae

and pupae within the stems, and removal of volunteer crop plants and/or alternative hosts,

prevents carry-over populations. This helps in limiting the initial establishment of stem borers

that would infest the next crop.

Early slashing of maize stubble and laying it out on the ground where the sun's heat destroys the

larvae and pupae within can reduce future infestations.

Biological control

Biological control by two parasitic wasps, Cotesia flavipes and Xanthopimpla stemmator, that

attack the spotted stem borer, has shown good results. Cotesia flavipes locates the stem borers

while they are feeding inside the plant stems. The wasp lays about 40 eggs into a stem borer.
Upon hatching the larvae of the parasitic wasp feed internally in the stem borer, and then exits

and spin cocoons. Xanthopimpla stemmator operates similarly but attacks the pupae. Habitat

management practices that conserve these parasitoids and predators like ants and earwigs can

help in the control of the spotted stem borer.

Chemical control

Chemical control can be achieved by applications of granules or dusts to the leaf whorl early in

crop growth to kill early larval instars. This method has limited effectiveness once the larvae

bore into the stem. Neem products (powder from ground neem seeds) are reportedly effective

and may be applied to the leaf whorl in a 1:1 mixture with dry clay or sawdust.

Life cycle and damaging symptoms of the spotted stem borer.

African Maize stem borer, Busseola fusca {Fuller}

Nature of damage: The larvae feed very little or not at all wherethe eggs have been laid but

migrate into the leaf whorl, where they begin scraping the tender leaves. As they unfold, the

leaves show perforations. Deep feeding in the whorl destroys the growing point, causing a

symptom referred to as dead heart. Medium sized larvae migrate down the stem, bore into it,
and as they do so expel a dust from the interior. Second generation larvae, like those of other

species, feed on tassels, ear shanks, ears, and stem and may there enter a period of dormancy and

become non-pigmented.

Description and life cycle: the full-gown borer is about 3 cm long and has a pinkish body with a

brown head. It prepares an exit for the adult {a dark- brown moth} by leaving intact the thin

cuter wall of the stem, which serves as a lid for the round exit. The moths deposit their nearly

spherical, light-yellowish eggs between the stem and lower leaf sheaths, as do the adults of the

African pink borer.

Geographical distribution: this insect is regarded as the most important pest of maize in sub-

Saharan Africa including Ethiopia at altitudes of 500 m and above.

Control options:

Cultural practices

Intercropping maize with non-host crops like cassava or legumes like cowpea can reduce spotted

stem borer damage. Alternatively, maize can be intercropped with a repellent plant such as silver

leaf desmodium (Desmodium uncinatum) and a trap plant, such as Napier grass (Pennisetum

purpureum), molasses grass (Melinis minutiflora) as a border crop around this intercrop to

protect maize from stem borers. The trap plant draws the adult female away from the crop. More

eggs are laid on the trap plant than on the crop but the larvae develop poorly or not at all on the

trap plant. This practice is known as "push-pull".

Good crop hygiene through the destruction of maize residues by burning to get rid of the larvae

and pupae within the stems, and removal of volunteer crop plants and/or alternative hosts,
prevents carry-over populations. This helps in limiting the initial establishment of stem borers

that would infest the next crop.

Early slashing of maize stubble and laying it out on the ground where the sun's heat destroys the

larvae and pupae within can also be utilised.

Biological control

Xanthopimpla stemmator operates similarly but attacks the pupae. Habitat management practices

that conserve these parasitoids and predators like ants and earwigs can help in the control of the

spotted stem borer.

Chemical control

Chemical control can be achieved by applications of granules or dusts to the leaf whorl early in

crop growth to kill early larval instars. This method has limited effectiveness once the larvae

bore into the stem. Neem products (powder from ground neem seeds) are reportedly effective

and may be applied to the leaf whorl in a 1:1 mixture with dry clay or sawdust.

Life cycle and damage symptom B. fusca

African Bollworm (ABW) (Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner))

The African, or as it used to be, Heliothis bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera) can clearly be

classified as a general pest since it has so many different host plants, but its method of attack

tends to be peculiar to the crop in question. It has many common names, including "American

bollworm" (a misnomer as it is an African pest), tobacco budworm, maize earworm and tomato

fruitworm.

Nature of damage: the feeding hole is clean and usually circular with frass placed away from it.

One larva may damage several plants. After eating the silks on developing cobs, it sometimes

feed on the soft seeds at the tip of the cob. It is sporadically important on maize.

Bollworm on young maize cob (left) b) Bollworm entry point to maize cob (right)
Description and life cycle: the adult is brown, stout bodied and mainly nocturnal. Eggs are tiny

(about 0.5 mm), spherical and white when freshly laid but soon turn brownish. The early instars

feed within silk and later instars feed on developing cob. They habitually leave part of the body

exposed during feeding. The mature larvae is stout and about 4 cm long. It has four prolegs and

varies in color between yellowish green, green, brown and black with a characteristic

longitudinal marking of pale band, a brown to black band and another pale band on each side of

the body. Pupation occurs in the soil.

Life cycle of ABW

Geographic distribution: The African bollworm is widely distributed in Africa including

Ethiopia.

Control options
Chemicals such as endosulfan and carbaryl are recommended to use against early instars larvae.

Moreover, different strains of Bt such as Bti are recommended as biopesticide against ABW. The

egg parasitoid, Trichogramma spp are also recommended against ABW.

Termites

Microtermes spp, Macrotermes spp and Odontoterms spp.

Nature of damage: Termites occasionally cause partial or total defoliation of maize seedling but

are principally damaging to maturing or mature plants. After about three months of plant growth,

termites begin to attack the main root system, prop roots, and stems and eventually pack the

stems with soil and cover them with galleries or tunnels made of thin sheets of soil. As plants

mature the amount of damage increases rapidly and so does the likelihood of lodging, brought

about directly by termites. The longer a field has been cultivated, the greater will be the yield

losses caused by these insects.

Description and the life cycle: these soft-bodied insects, often referred to as white ants, occur

in various forms. The sexual forms, the queen and her cohort, have four wings extending beyond

the abdomen, which are lost after pairing. Once the queen is established in a nest, her abdomen

becomes enlarged, and she produces thousands of eggs, from which nymphs emerge. These

either become soldiers, which protect the termite colony, or workers, whose function is to feed

members of the colony. Both f those forms are sterile.

Geographical distribution: Termites occur in sub-Saharan Africa, especially the savanna and

semiarid, and India. In Ethiopia it is a big menace to maize production particularly in western

Ethiopia.
Control options:

Use an integrated program to manage termites. Combine methods such as modifying habitats,

excluding termites from the building by physical and chemical means, and using mechanical and

chemical methods to destroy existing colonies. Early harvesting, use of lodging resistant varieties

and seed dressing chemicals among others are also used for termite control.

Different castes of termite, their mound and galleries

Some natural enemies associated with maize field insect pests

Maize agro-ecosystem is rich in natural enemies. Emana et al. (2001) recorded about 21

parasitoids, 14 predators and seven pathogens from the different species of stem borers. Other

pests like aphids have also many number of natural enemies particularly parasitoid wasps.

Hence, one has to consider the beneficial value of these natural enemies when ever control

measure is designed i.e care should be taken on the use of insecticide. For general understanding

few outstanding parasitoids of stem borers will be listed down.

Egg parasitoid: Telenomous busseolae (Gahan), Telenomous nenesis Polaszek & Kimani,

Trichogramma bournieri Pintureau and Babault

Larval parasitoid: Cotesia flavipes (Cameron), Bracon sesamia Cameron, Cotesia sesamia

(Cameron), Dolichogenidea fuscivora Walker and Dolichogenidea polaszeki Walker.

Pupal parasitoid: Pediobius furvus Gahan, Dentichasmias busseolae Heinrich and

Xanthopimpla sp

2.1.2 Plant injury by oviposition

A few insects injure plants when they lay their eggs, particularly when they oviposit in stems or

fruits such insects include tree crickets, tree hoppers and leafhoppers.

2.1.3 Insects and plant disease

Some 200 plant diseases have been shown to have to be transmitted by insects and such insects

are called plant disease vectors. Many plant virus diseases are transmitted by insects. Insects

from the order Homptera are known for vectoring plant diseases.

2.1.4 Insects attacking stored products

After materials produced by plants and animals have been stored as food or in other forms are

attacked by insects which may high reduce the value.

2.1.4.1 Pests of wood

All sorts of wooden structures, such as buildings, furniture, fence posts and utility poles among

others are attacked by insects.

2.1.4.2 Pests of fabrics and clothing

Most materials made from animal fibers such as furs, clothing and blankets among others are

attacked by insects.

2.1.4.3 Pests of stored foods

Many types of stored foods, particularly meats, cheese, milk products, flour, meal, cereal, stored

grain, nuts, and fruits are attacked by insects. The important pests of this type are the Angoumois

grain moth, Indian meal moth, flour moth, weevils, etc.

Review question- List major crops grown in Ethiopia and list major insect pests associated

to them
2.2. Control of harmful insects

2.3.1 Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a sustainable approach to managing pests by combining

biological, cultural, physical and chemical tools in a way that minimizes economic, health, and

environmental risks.

As defined in the National IPM Roadmap, Integrated Pest Management, or IPM, is a long-

standing, science-based, decision-making process that identifies and reduces risks from pests and

pest management related strategies. It coordinates the use of pest biology, environmental

information, and available technology to prevent unacceptable levels of pest damage by the most

economical means, while posing the least possible risk to people, property, resources, and the

environment. IPM provides an effective strategy for managing pests in all arenas from developed
residential and public areas to wild lands. IPM serves as an umbrella to provide an effective, all

encompassing, low-risk approach to protect resources and people from pests.

Another definition: Integrated pest management (IPM) is socially acceptable, environmentally

responsible and economically practical crop protection.

Integrated means that a broad interdisciplinary approach is taken using scientific principles of

crop protection to fuse into a single system a variety of management strategies and tactics.

Pest traditionally defined as any organism that interferes with production of the crop.

Management is the decision making process to control pest populations in a planned, systematic

way by keeping their numbers or damage at economically acceptable levels.

Key Components of IPM include:

Integrates management of all pests.

A way of dealing with pest problems while minimizing risks to human health and the

environment.

Weighs the economic or quality risks of pests and pest control methods used.

Knowledge-based pest management.

Reduces pests to tolerable levels does not emphasize pest eradication or elimination.

Prevention vs. reactive pest control.

Holistic approach; ecologically based.

Uses a diversity of pest control measures.

Pesticides are used only as a last resort.

What does IPM integrate?

Multiple pest management tactics (chemical, biological, cultural, mechanical).

 Management of multiple pests (insects, diseases, weeds, vertebrates, etc.).

Pest Management tactics on an area-wide basis (many pest control situations are better handled

on a large-scale or regional basis).

General IPM Strategies (From: Diane G. Alston, Extension Entomologist Department of

Biology

Utah State University, Logan UT http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/ipm-

concept'96.pdf).

Do-nothing Is the pest economically/aesthetically significant? Use sampling and knowledge

of economic/aesthetic thresholds to make a decision; if pest population is below the

economic/aesthetic threshold, the control is not justified.

Reduce Numbers Implement on a treat-as-needed basis when the economic injury level is

reached, or as a preventative tactic based on history of a pest problem. Examples of tactics

pesticides, release of natural enemies, cultural practices such as cultivation, sanitation, etc.

Reduce-crop/host/ecosystem susceptibility rely on changes made in the host (pan t or animal)

or ecosystem that make it less susceptible to the pest (i.e., raise the economic injury level).

Examples of tactics host plant (or animal) resistance r tolerance, cultural practices such as

fertilization (reduce stress) and altering the synchrony between pest and susceptible host, etc.

Combined strategies Diversification is often helpful in improving consistency of a pest

management program.

Another way of looking at selecting pest management options is to view them as a pyramid

where options are arranged as a pyramid. The pyramid illustrates a least toxic approach to pest

management. The foundation contains practices such as crop rotation that enhance crop health
and help prevent or avoid pest population build up or reduce pest impacts. As one climbs the

pyramid towards the top different options are employed as necessary as interventions to pest

population buildup or impact

2.3.2 Biological pest control

Biological pest control is the control of one through the control and management of natural

predators and parasites. For example: mosquitoes are often controlled by putting Bt Bacillus

thuringiensis ssp. israelensis, a bacterium that infects and kills mosquito larvae, in local water

sources. The treatment has no known negative consequences on the remaining ecology and is

safe for humans to drink. The point of biological pest control, or any natural pest control, is to

eliminate a pest with minimal harm to the ecological balance of the environment in its present

form.

2.3.3 Elimination of breeding grounds

Proper waste management and drainage of still water, eliminates the breeding ground of many

pests.

Garbage provides food and shelter for many unwanted organisms, as well as an area where still

water might collect and be used as a breeding ground by mosquitoes. Communities that have

proper garbage collection and disposal, have far less of a problem with rats, cockroaches,

mosquitoes, flies and other pests than those that don't.

Open air sewers are ample breeding ground for various pests as well. By building and

maintaining a proper sewer system, this problem is eliminated.

Certain spectrums of LED light can "disrupt insects breeding.

2.3.4 Poisoned bait

Poisoned bait is a common method for controlling rat populations, however is not as effective

when there are other food sources around, such as garbage. Poisoned meats have been used for

centuries for killing off wolves, birds that were seen to threaten crops, and against other

creatures. This can be a problem, since a carcass which has been poisoned will kill not only the

targeted animal, but also every other animal which feeds on the carcass. Humans have also been

killed by coming in contact with poisoned meat, or by eating an animal which had fed on a

poisoned carcass. this tool is also used to manage several caterpillars e.g.Spodoptera litura,fruit

flies,snails and slugs,crabs etc..

2.3.5 Field burning

Traditionally, after a sugar cane harvest, the fields are all burned, to kill off any insects or eggs

that might be in the fields.

2.3.6 Traps

There are different types of traps develop either to monitor the presence or absence of insects

and/or for the management of insect pests. The most common traps utilized to date are light trap

and pheromone trap.

2.3.6 Pesticides
Spraying pesticides by planes, handheld units, or trucks that carry the spraying equipment, is a

common method of pest control. Crop dusters commonly fly over farmland and spray pesticides

to kill off pests that would threaten the crops. However, some pesticides may cause cancer and

other health problems, as well as harming wildlife.

2.3.6.1 Space fumigation

A project that involves a structure be covered or sealed airtight followed by the introduction of a

penetrating, deadly gas at a killing concentration a long period of time (24-72hrs.). Although

expensive, space fumigation targets all life stages of pests.

2.3.6.2 Space treatment

A long term project involving fogging or misting type applicators. Liquid insecticide is dispersed

in the atmosphere within a structure. Treatments do not require the evacuation or airtight sealing

of a building, allowing most work within the building to continue but at the cost of the

penetrating effects.

2.3.6.3 Sterilization

Laboratory studies conducted with U-5897 (3-chloro-1,2-propanediol) where attempted in the

early 1970s although these proved unsuccessful. Research into sterilization bait is ongoing.

Another effective method of soil sterilization is soil steaming. Pest is killed through hot steam

which is induced into the soil.

2.3.7 Destruction of infected plants

Forest services sometimes destroy all the trees in an area where some are infected with insects, if

seen as necessary to prevent the insect species from spreading. Farms infested with certain

insects, have been burned entirely, to prevent the pest from spreading elsewhere.

Review question- List pest control methods cotton and coffee growers of Ethiopia are using.