About Book

Insects play one of the most important roles in ecosystems, which include many roles, such as soil turning and aeration, dung burial, pest control, pollination and wildlife nutrition. Insects or Insecta are hexapod invertebrates and the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have segmented bodies, jointed legs, and external skeletons (exoskeletons). Entomology is the scientific study of insects. It studies the structure, classification, biological systems, nature, habitats, etc., of insects in detail. In the past the term "insect" was more imprecise, and historically the definition of entomology included to study of terrestrial animals in other arthropod groups or other phyla, such as arachnids, myriapods, earthworms, land snails, and slugs. It forms a synthesis of other disciplines, and draws on techniques from fields such as cell biology, bioinformatics, biochemistry, molecular biology, immunology, genetics, evolution and ecology. Entomology is designed to familiarize the knowledge of Insect's taxonomy, evolution and success with a link to the common diseases affecting organisms. It also describes insect anatomy, physiology and ecological importance. This book attempts to understand the multiple topics that fall under the discipline of entomology and how such concepts have practical applications and effects in the ecosystem. It includes a better understanding of the biology and ecology of insects. It explores biological control, chemical control, behavioural responses, bioactive natural products, insecticidal toxins, insecticide resistance, pyralidae insects and spectroscopy. It picks up individual branches and explains their need and contribution in the context of the growth of this area. The book also explains the various practices that highlight the conservation of the environment. Coherent flow of topics, student-friendly language and extensive use of examples make this book an invaluable source of knowledge. It is useful as a core text for upper division and graduate students, as well as a valuable reference for scientists who work with insects in genetics, biochemistry, virology, microbiology and behaviour.

Preface ..................................................................................................................... v

1 Applications of Synchrotron-Source IR Spectroscopy for the

Investigation of Insect Wings ............................................................................. 1

Abstract ........................................................................................................... 1

1. Introduction ................................................................................................... 1

2. Infrared beamline at the Australian Synchrotron ................................... 3

3. Experimental setup for the investigation of insect wings ...................... 5

4. Case study: investigation and characteri-sation of insect wings .......... 9

5. Conclusions .................................................................................................. 21

Acknowledgements ..................................................................................... 21

2. Biological Control of Insect Pest ...................................................................... 27

Abstract ......................................................................................................... 27

1. Introduction ................................................................................................. 28

2. Threats of pesticides .................................................................................... 29

3. Types of insecticides .................................................................................... 29

4. Degradation or breakdown processes ...................................................... 30

5. Biopesticides: an alternate to traditional chemical pesticides ............. 30

6. Role of biopesticides in China .................................................................... 31

7. Major classes of biopesticides .................................................................... 31

8. Biopesticide characteristics ....................................................................... 32

9. Biopesticide application on food safety .................................................... 32

10. Microbial pesticides .................................................................................... 33

11. Botanicals ...................................................................................................... 34

12. Natural enemies ........................................................................................... 36

13. Antibiotics of agricultural ......................................................................... 37

14. Insect sex pheromone .................................................................................. 38

15. Difference between chemical and biological pesticide ........................... 38

16. Role of biopesticides in organic agriculture ............................................ 39

17. Future of biological control ........................................................................ 39

18. Conclusion .................................................................................................... 40

Acknowledgements ..................................................................................... 40

3. Agricultural Robot for Intelligent Detection of Pyralidae Insects ............. 44

Abstract ......................................................................................................... 44

1. Introduction ................................................................................................. 45

2. Materials and methods ............................................................................... 47

3. Results and discussions .............................................................................. 53

4. Conclusions .................................................................................................. 58

Acknowledgements ..................................................................................... 58

Conflict of interest ....................................................................................... 58

4. Biochemical Insecticide Resistance in Tea Pests ........................................... 62

Abstract ......................................................................................................... 62

1. Introduction ................................................................................................. 64

2. Insect pest occurrences in tea .................................................................... 64

3. Insect pests of tea and management problemS ...................................... 66

4. Insecticide resistance mechanisms in insect pests of tea ...................... 69

5. Major metabolic detoxifying enzymes in insects ................................... 73

6. Detoxifying enzymes and insecticide metabolism ................................. 79

7. Host allelochemicals, induction of detoxifying enzymes and

insecticide resistance ................................................................................... 85

8. Genetics and insecticide resistance in tea pests ..................................... 89

Acknowledgements ..................................................................................... 90

5. Biological Activity of Insecticidal Toxins: Structural Basis,

Site-Directed Mutagenesis and Perspectives .............................................. 114

1. Introduction ............................................................................................... 114

2. Typical anti-insect toxins ......................................................................... 115

3. The phylogenetic relationship of insecticidal toxins and their comparison

with lepidop-teran- and coleopteran-specific molecules .................... 118

4. Insecticidal toxins and site-directed muta-genesis: case reports ...... 121

5. Final remarks ............................................................................................. 127

6. Conclusion .................................................................................................. 138

7. Acknowledgments ..................................................................................... 138

6. Bioactive Natural Products from Sapindaceae Deterrent and Toxic

Metabolites Against Insects ............................................................................ 152

1. Introduction ............................................................................................... 152

2. Sapindaceae: its anti-insect potential ..................................................... 153

3. Cyanocompounds ...................................................................................... 164

4. Conclusion .................................................................................................. 167

5. Acknowledgments ..................................................................................... 168

References ................................................................................................... 169

7. Behavioral Responses of Mosquitoes to Insecticides ............................... 181

1. Introduction ............................................................................................... 181

2. History of test systems to study mosquito behaviors ......................... 185

3. Behavioral responses ................................................................................ 193

4. Conclusion .................................................................................................. 197

5. Acknowledgments ..................................................................................... 198

References ................................................................................................... 198

8. Alternatives to Chemical Control of Insect Pests ........................................ 206

1. Introduction ............................................................................................... 206

2. Cultural control methods to reduce insecticide applications ............ 208

3. Biological control of insect pests ............................................................. 215

4. Physical control strategies to reduce pest incidence ........................... 221

5. Conclusions ................................................................................................ 224

References ................................................................................................... 225

9. Bacillus sphaericus and Bacillus thuringiensis to Insect Control: Process ..

Development of Small Scale Production to Pilot-Plant-Fermenters ...... 243

1. Introduction ............................................................................................... 243

2. Bacillus sphaericus and Bacillus thuringiensis in vector control:

an overview ................................................................................................ 244

3. Stages of product development ............................................................... 247

4. Process on a laboratory scale to pilot-plant-fermenters .................... 252

5. Conclusion .................................................................................................. 256

6. Acknowledgment ...................................................................................... 256

Citation ................................................................................................................ 263

Index .................................................................................................................... 265

About Author

Ivan McGuire holds Ph.D. in Entomology from Public University, Barinas. He is working as a Freelance Researcher and Science Editor at Bahia. His keen research interest areas are pest risk analysis, disease control, and systematic entomology. McGuire is on the editorial board of several renowned zoology and developmental biology journals and has edited over 230 technical papers and eight reference books. He has also been a keynote speaker at numerous international conferences. He has been the recipient of two awards for his contributions in entomology.