Insecticides insect pathogens

The need to find effective alternatives to chemical insecticides has kept alive an interest in the use of naturally occurring insect pathogens as control agents. 

Among these different biopesticides, bacterial biopesticides are the most intensively studied and widely used. Several insect pathogenic bacteria are known to produce proteins toxic to certain insects. Bacillus thurin ensis (Bt) is the most well-known bacterium for its potent insecticidal proteins. These proteins are highly specific to certain orders of insects. Insects sensitive to Bt include those of Coleoptera, Diptera, and Lepidoptera. Bacillus sphaericus and Clostridium bifermentans are known for their mosquitocidal proteins. Paenibadllus popilliae produces a scarab active toxin structurally similar to common insecticidal proteins... 

Fungi are broadly associated microbial pathogens of insects. Beauveria bassiana is extensively used as a microbial insecticide in China and Eastern Europe, especially for the control of the com borer Ostrinia spp. However, fungi have had no significant development as microbial insecticides in the United States. 

This paper will focus on the baculoviruses (family Baculoviridae), a group of viruses reported as pathogens of many destructive insect species affecting agricultural and forest production. 1 will emphasize the role of these pathogens as introduced microbial insecticides or "living insecticides" (1). 

Trapping Pheromones are released to trap target insects or to attract them into devices where pathogens (trap and affect) or insecticides (trap and kill) can be deployed. 

---