Utilization of pheromones in the population management of moth pests.

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Abstract
Pheromones are substances emitted by one individual of a species and eliciting a specific response in a second individual of the same species. In moths (Lepidoptera) generally females lure males for mating by emission of a sex attractant pheromone comprised of either one or more components. Since 1966 the identification of the pheromone blends of many moth pests has allowed investigations into the use of these messengers for population manipulation. Pheromone-baited traps may be used both to detect pest presence and to estimate population density, so that conventional control tactics can be employed only as required and timed precisely for maximum effectiveness. Attractant traps also can be utilized for direct population suppression when the traps are deployed at a density effective in reducing mating success sufficiently to achieve control. A third use pattern of pheromones and related compounds is disruption of pheromone communication via atmospheric permeation with synthetic disruptants. The behavioral...