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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Maricopa, Arizona » U.S. Arid Land Agricultural Research Center » Pest Management and Biocontrol Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #227513

Title: Potential of ‘lure and kill’ in long-term pest management and eradication of invasive species

Author
item EL-SAYED, A.M. - HORTRESEARCH,LINCOLN,NZ
item SUCKLING, D.M. - HORTRESEARCH,LINCOLN,NZ
item Byers, John
item Jang, Eric
item WEARING, C.H. - TIMARU, NEW ZEALAND

Submitted to: Journal of Economic Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/24/2008
Publication Date: 6/28/2009
Citation: El-Sayed, A.M., Suckling, D.M., Byers, J.A., Jang, E.B., Wearing, C.H. 2009. Potential of ‘lure and kill’ in long-term pest management and eradication of invasive species. Journal of Economic Entomology. 102:815-835.

Interpretive Summary: ‘Lure and kill’ technology has been used for several decades in pest management and eradication of invasive species. In ‘lure and kill’, the insect pest attracted by a semiochemical (pheromone) lure is not ‘entrapped’ at the source of the attractant as in mass trapping, but instead the insect is subjected to a killing agent, which eliminates affected individuals from the population after a short period. In past decades, a growing scientific literature has been published on this concept. This article provides the first review on the potential of ‘lure and kill’ in long-term pest management and eradication of invasive species. We present an overall summary of ‘lure and kill’, either when used as a stand-alone control method or in combination with other methods. We discuss its efficacy in comparison to other control methods. Several case studies where ‘lure and kill’ has been used with the aims of long-term pest management (e.g. pink bollworm, Egyptian cotton leafworm, codling moth, apple maggot fly, biting flies, and bark beetles) or the eradication of invasive species (e.g. tephritid fruit flies, and boll weevils) are provided. Subsequently, we identify essential knowledge required for successful ‘lure and kill’ programs that include: lure competitiveness with natural odor source; lure density; lure formulation and release rate; pest population density and risk of immigration; and biology and ecology of the target species. The risks associated with ‘lure and kill’ especially when used in the eradication programs are highlighted. We comment on the cost effectiveness of this technology and its strengths and weaknesses, and list key reasons for success and failure. We conclude that ‘lure and kill’ can be highly effective in controlling small, low density, isolated populations, and thus has the potential to add value to long-term pest management. In the eradication of invasive species, ‘lure and kill’ offers a major advantage in effectiveness by its being more effective at low population densities and provides some improvements in efficacy over related control methods. However, the inclusion of insecticides or sterilants in ‘lure and kill’ formulations presents a major obstacle to public acceptance.

Technical Abstract: ‘Lure and kill’ technology has been used for several decades in pest management and eradication of invasive species. In ‘lure and kill’, the insect pest attracted by a semiochemical lure is not ‘entrapped’ at the source of the attractant as in mass trapping, but instead the insect is subjected to a killing agent, which eliminates affected individuals from the population after a short period. In past decades, a growing scientific literature has been published on this concept. This article provides the first review on the potential of ‘lure and kill’ in long-term pest management and eradication of invasive species. We present an overall summary of ‘lure and kill’, either when used as a stand-alone control method or in combination with other methods. We discuss its efficacy in comparison to other control methods. Several case studies where ‘lure and kill’ has been used with the aims of long-term pest management (e.g. pink bollworm, Egyptian cotton leafworm, codling moth, apple maggot fly, biting flies, and bark beetles) or the eradication of invasive species (e.g. tephritid fruit flies, and boll weevils) are provided. Subsequently, we identify essential knowledge required for successful ‘lure and kill’ programs that include: lure competitiveness with natural odor source; lure density; lure formulation and release rate; pest population density and risk of immigration; and biology and ecology of the target species. The risks associated with ‘lure and kill’ especially when used in the eradication programs are highlighted. We comment on the cost effectiveness of this technology and its strengths and weaknesses, and list key reasons for success and failure. We conclude that ‘lure and kill’ can be highly effective in controlling small, low density, isolated populations, and thus has the potential to add value to long-term pest management. In the eradication of invasive species, ‘lure and kill’ offers a major advantage in effectiveness by its being inverse density dependent and provides some improvements in efficacy over related control methods. However, the inclusion of insecticides or sterilants in ‘lure and kill’ formulations presents a major obstacle to public acceptance.