Toxic plants have been used for years in agriculture to control major crop pests. However, the continuous exposure of targeted pests to toxins dramatically increases the rate of resistance evolution (Gassman et al. in Annu Rev Entomol 54:147-163, 2009a; Tabashnik et al. Nat Biotechnol 26:199-202, 2008). To prevent or delay resistance, non toxic host plants can be used as refuges. Our study cons...

Phenolic esters have attracted considerable interest due to the potential they offer for peroxidase catalysed cross-linking of cell wall polysaccharides. Particularly, feruloyl residues undergo radical coupling reactions that result in cross-linking (intra-/intermolecular) between polysaccharides, between polysaccharides and lignin and, between polysaccharides and proteins. This review addresse...

A major problem in insect pest and weed management is uncertainty. Managers are faced with three main types of uncertainty: uncertainty about biological and environmental processes, and observational uncertainty. Active adaptive management (AAM) is management with a deliberate plan for learning about the managed system, so that management can be improved in the face of uncertainty. We discuss t...

Western flower thrips (WFT) is one of the most economically important pest insects of many crops worldwide. Recent EU legislation has caused a dramatic shift in pest management strategies, pushing for tactics that are less reliable on chemicals. The development of alternative strategies is therefore an issue of increasing urgency. This paper reviews the main control tactics in integrated pest m...

The western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte) is an economically important pest of corn. One strategy used to manage western corn rootworm is the planting of transgenic corn that produces one or more Cry toxins derived from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). Refuges of non-Bt corn function to delay the development of resistance and the greatest delay in resistance is expected whe...

The German cockroach is an important household insect pest mechanically involved in transmission of a variety of diseases to humans. Different classes of insecticides have extensively been used for its control leading to insecticide resistance development. Hence, for an optimal control of this pest, the status and underlying mechanisms of insecticide resistance should be studied in this group o...

The diamondback moth (DBM), Plutella xylostella, is a global economic pest of brassicas whose pest status has been exacerbated by climate change and variability. Southern African small-scale farmers are battling to cope with increasing pressure from the pest due to limited exposure to sustainable control options. The current paper critically analysed literature with a climate change and sustain...

The indiscriminate use of broad-spectrum insecticides has caused major problems with pest resistance, residues in food, environmental contamination, outbreaks of secondary pests, and reductions in populations of beneficial insects. This results in increased demands for pest control methods that are both efficient and friendly to the environment. The sterile insect technique (SIT), applied as pa...

The evolution of resistance by pests can reduce the efficacy of transgenic crops that produce insecticidal toxins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). However, fitness costs may act to delay pest resistance to Bt toxins. Meta-analysis of results from four previous studies revealed that the entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema riobrave (Rhabditida: Steinernematidae) imposed a 20% fitness cost for ...

Recent predictions of growth in human populations and food supply suggest that there will be a need to substantially increase food production in the near future. One possible approach to meeting this demand, at least in part, is the control of pests and diseases, which currently cause a 30-40% loss in available crop production. In recent years, strategies for controlling pests and diseases have...