Agriculture, Journal Year: 2025, Volume and Issue: 15(6), P. 642 - 642
Published: March 18, 2025
Concerns about the environmental and health risks of synthetic insecticides are driving search for alternative pest control methods. Leaf-cutting ants (LCAs), one most significant pests in neotropics, cause substantial economic damage to agriculture present challenges due their complex biology ecology. While chemical remains primary strategy, its intensive use has negative impacts, promotes resistance, endangers non-target species, including plants, animals, humans. This review describes LCAs, examines traditional methods suggests strategies such as entomopathogenic fungi (EPFs) combined with sublethal doses insecticides, plant essential oils (EOs), RNAi techniques. Here, we emphasize need address LCA management sustainably by investigating ecology at both “colony” “individual” levels. Colony-level factors include morphology, life cycle, behavior, division labor, nest structure, while individual-level mechanisms involve sensory, biochemical, behavioral adaptations garden sterilization decontamination. also highlights potential insecticide EPFs induce changes worker mortality, it details mode action EOs promising strategies. The integration biological approaches could offer sustainable alternatives insecticides.
Language: Английский