The Potential use of Semiochemicals in Pest Suppression

Semiochemicals are natural substances produced and used by insects and plants to communicate. The different Semiochemicals based insect management techniques, such as monitoring, mating disruption, mass trapping, attractant, repellent, and push-pull strategies are highlighted. Semiochemicals are divided into two groups naturally secreted (pheromones and allelochemicals) and not secreted (attractants, disrupt ants, repellents, and other Para pheromones). Pheromones include sex, aggregation, alarm and trail pheromones, etc. Monitoring of insects can be done either with kairomones or pheromones baits traps. Mass trapping aims at catching a substantial proportion of the pest population before mating, oviposition or feeding and thus preventing damage to the crop. Mating disruption technique is achieved by the widespread application of synthetic pheromones. The push-pull strategy involves behavioral manipulation of insect pests and their natural enemies by the integration of stimuli that act to make the protected resources unattractive, while luring them towards an attractive resource, from where the pest is subsequently removed. Methods for crop protection based on Semiochemicals show advantages over method based on conventional insecticides. Semiochemicals are considered safe and environmentally friendly molecule due to their natural origin, low persistence in the environment and species-specific, which attribute much to their harmless effect on non-target organisms. However, there are some difficulties in the practical application of Semiochemicals in pest suppression; therefore, applications of Semiochemicals for insect pest management have, however, been limited.