Pest Management Science最新文献

{"title":"Silencing LsAtg8 reduces female fecundity and elevates Wolbachia density in embryos of the rice planthopper Laodelphax striatellus.","authors":"Meng-Ke Wang, Meng-Ru Wang, Yue-Di Niu, Xiao-Li Bing, Xiao-Yue Hong","doi":"10.1002/ps.70934","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ps.70934","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Autophagy is essential for insect reproduction and endosymbiont homeostasis, with Atg8 serving as a key autophagy-related gene. However, the specific role of LsAtg8 in reproduction and endosymbiont regulation in Laodelphax striatellus has not been fully examined.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In this study, we discovered that LsAtg8 is expressed at higher levels in the fat body and ovaries of L. striatellus compared to other autophagy-related genes, regardless of endosymbiont Wolbachia infection status. Knockdown of LsAtg8 using RNA interference significantly reduced female fecundity and delayed oocyte development in Wolbachia-infected females, but not in uninfected females. RNA-seq analysis revealed that LsAtg8 interference caused significant changes in the fatty acid metabolism pathway in the ovary, and the expression of several genes, including trifunctional enzyme subunit alpha (HADHA), fatty acid synthase (FAS) and acyl-CoA delta (11) desaturase (FADΔ11), was altered. Additionally, LsAtg8 silencing increased Wolbachia levels in embryos and altered its dynamics of density during the development of nymphs without affecting the lifespan or reproductive capacity of the offspring.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>These findings suggest a multifaceted role for Atg8 in the host-symbiont system and provide insights into pest management strategies targeting endosymbionts. © 2026 Society of Chemical Industry.</p>","PeriodicalId":218,"journal":{"name":"Pest Management Science","volume":" ","pages":"8858-8867"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13453262/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148051411","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Host-induced silencing of the Minc09294 effector gene impairs Meloidogyne incognita and M. Enterolobii infection.","authors":"João Pedro Abreu-Sousa, Thuanne Pires Ribeiro, Daniele Heloisa Pinheiro, Valdeir Junio Vaz Moreira, Luanna Pinheiro Alburquerque Freitas Bezerra, Júlia Moura Rosário Santana, Lays Antunes Teixeira, Maria Eugenia Lisei-de-Sa, Deyse Alexandra Rosero Alpala, Manoely Abreu Reis, Isabela Tristan Lourenço-Tessutti, Leonardo Lima Pepino Macedo, Carolina Vianna Morgante, Maria Cristina Mattar Silva, Marcos Fernando Basso, Janice de Almeida-Engler, Maria Fatima Grossi-de-Sa","doi":"10.1002/ps.71258","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ps.71258","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The root-knot nematode (RKN) Meloidogyne incognita is one of the most important plant-parasitic nematodes (PPN) worldwide. M. incognita secretes a large number of effector proteins that play major roles in parasitism by modulating host susceptibility. In this study, we functionally characterized the M. incognita Minc3s00280g09294 (Minc09294) gene as a putative effector using a host-induced gene silencing (HIGS) approach in transgenic plants. Quantitative expression analyses showed that the Minc09294 gene is weakly expressed from eggs through the J4 stage, but is strongly induced in adult females during plant parasitism, indicating a role in the sedentary feeding phase. In silico domain prediction revealed that the encoded Minc09294 protein contains four galectin/galactose-binding lectin domains, an N-terminal signal peptide for extracellular secretion, a non-cytoplasmic region, and no predicted transmembrane domain, consistent with secretion into host tissues. Minc09294 silencing in host plants significantly decreased the number of galls (92.9%), egg masses (93.5%), eggs (79.0%), and the nematode reproduction factor (90.5%) in Minc09294-RNAi lines compared to wild-type plants. Histological analyses further revealed smaller galls and poorly developed giant cells in the Minc09294-RNAi lines. Since the homologous gene ME_e1834_066g0351951 in Meloidogyne enterolobii shares high sequence similarity with Minc09294, and consequently with the RNAi target sequence, we also challenged the Minc09294-RNAi lines with M. enterolobii. These Minc09294-RNAi lines exhibited a substantial reduction in the number of galls (up to 53.7%) and egg masses (up to 53.3%), whereas the effects on egg number and reproduction factor were less pronounced. Collectively, these data indicate that the Minc09294 in M. incognita and its homolog ME_e1834_066g0351951 in M. enterolobi are required for successful parasitism and represent promising effector targets for durable, RNAi-based control of RKNs. © 2026 The Author(s). Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.</p>","PeriodicalId":218,"journal":{"name":"Pest Management Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148872326","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Study on pesticide utilization efficiency, droplet deposition and residues sprayed by UAV in processing pepper field","authors":"Ying Li, Haoran Li, Muhammad Zeeshan, Xiaolong Ma, Longfei Yang, Sifeng Zhao, Guoqiang Zhang, Xiaoqiang Han","doi":"10.1002/ps.71262","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ps.71262","url":null,"abstract":"BACKGROUND Plant protection unmanned aerial vehicle ( <jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\">UAV</jats:styled-content> ) spraying has emerged as a core precision pesticide application technology, but systematic field evidence regarding its comprehensive application performance, pesticide residue dissipation and dietary safety risks in processing pepper production remains insufficient, restricting its standardized popularization. This study aimed to clarify the field applicability of <jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\">UAV</jats:styled-content> spraying by comparatively evaluating pesticide utilization efficiency, droplet deposition distribution, residue dissipation dynamics and dietary risk profiles of three commonly used pesticides (chlorantraniliprole, afidopyropen and fluazinam) in processing pepper fields, with boom sprayer and knapsack sprayer treatments set as conventional control groups. RESULTS Field trials conducted in Shihezi (Xinjiang) from 2023 to 2025 demonstrated that <jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\">UAV</jats:styled-content> spraying achieved consistently higher pesticide utilization efficiency (3.09–84.60%) throughout the whole growth period relative to boom spraying (1.45–73.62%). All treatments exhibited a distinct vertical droplet deposition gradient of upper &gt; middle &gt; lower canopy in pepper plants. The three tested pesticides showed the shortest dissipation half‐lives (3.74–4.69 days) under <jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\">UAV</jats:styled-content> application. Terminal pesticide residues at harvest did not differ significantly among the three application methods. Both chronic dietary risk (% <jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\">ADI</jats:styled-content> &lt; 0.2%) and acute dietary risk (% <jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\">ARfD</jats:styled-content> &lt;1.0%) for all treatments were substantially below official safety thresholds. CONCLUSION <jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\">UAV</jats:styled-content> precision spraying improves pesticide utilization efficiency and reduces effective pesticide dosage without elevating dietary residue risks in processing pepper production. This technology resolves the low‐efficiency pain points of traditional spraying methods, provides robust field validation for the safety and superiority of <jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\">UAV</jats:styled-content> ‐based plant protection, and offers a practical technical support for low‐input, high‐efficiency precision management in sustainable processing pepper cultivation. © 2026 Society of Chemical Industry.","PeriodicalId":218,"journal":{"name":"Pest Management Science","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148860941","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Multilayer microcapsules improved the tolerance to adverse conditions of Pseudomonas aeruginosa A14 and biocontrol effect against cabbage Fusarium wilt.","authors":"Yang Jiao, Yiming Liu, Jing Dong, Jiawei Tang, Ailing Xiao, Jingjing Li, Fuxin Sun, Heng Li, Wenlu Wang, Qixiong Gao, Yue Li, Jianfeng Lang, Hongliang Wang, Songwei Li, Xueliang Tian, Jianfeng Du, Chuanjun Wang","doi":"10.1002/ps.70958","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ps.70958","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Fusarium wilt is a major soil-borne disease that restricts cabbage production and causes substantial agricultural losses. Although biocontrol microorganisms are considered promising alternatives to synthetic fungicides, their field performance is often limited by poor tolerance to adverse environmental and processing conditions. In this study, we developed a multilayer encapsulation strategy to improve the stability and biocontrol effectiveness of a selected antagonistic bacterial strain.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A bacterial isolate, designated A14, exhibited broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity and was identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa through polyphasic taxonomic analysis. The fermentation-derived extract suppressed the mycelial growth of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. conglutinans (FOC), which is likely to be via disrupting the integrity of the cell wall and membrane. Chemical analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) identified phenazine-1-carboxamide (PCN) as one of the antifungal metabolites present in the extract, and purified PCN also showed inhibitory activity against FOC. To improve strain performance under stress, A14 was encapsulated using a layer-by-layer (LBL) assembly system based on sodium alginate (SA), hyaluronic acid (HA) and gelatin (GL). The resulting multilayer microcapsules significantly improved tolerance to heat, acidic conditions and salt stress, while also enhancing antioxidant activity.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>These multilayer microcapsules can effectively enhance the tolerance of strain A14 to high temperature, acidic environments and high salt stress. Additionally, encapsulation markedly improved the antioxidant capacity of A14. Meanwhile, these multilayer microcapsules enhanced the biological control efficiency against cabbage Fusarium wilt. These findings provide useful support for the development of highly efficient bacterial bioformulations. © 2026 Society of Chemical Industry.</p>","PeriodicalId":218,"journal":{"name":"Pest Management Science","volume":" ","pages":"9140-9152"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13453211/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147979733","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"New biopreparation against Neofabraea, the causal agent of Bull's Eye Rot - development and influence on the apple's microbial community at the practical scale.","authors":"Klaudia Zawadzka, Karolina Oszust, Agata Gryta, Michał Pylak, Jacek Panek, Hubert Głos, Krzysztof P Rutkowski, Justyna Cybulska, Tomasz Lipa, Artur Zdunek, Magdalena Frąc","doi":"10.1002/ps.70975","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ps.70975","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Apples are among the most important horticultural crops. Therefore, maintaining their postharvest quality is essential. Storage diseases, such as Bull's Eye Rot (BER), which is caused by Neofabraea spp. (syn. Pezicula, Phlyctema), poses a significant economic challenge to apple production. Its suppression is particularly significant as compared to other postharvest pathogens due to a specific latent mode of action. This work aims to improve BER disease management and fruit microbial quality in apple production, both of which are key aspects of sustainable horticultural systems.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In order to meet this objective, we propose a novel approach based on a sustainable biopreparation (named APPAT(f)REE), composed of spores of selected antagonistic strains, Bacillus velezensis strains B134/22, B233/22, B267/22, and Trichoderma koningiopsis G779/22 as active ingredients, supplemented with targeted prebiotics (1% of D-xylose and D-ribose mixture). The biopreparation effect was evaluated under orchard conditions following cold storage to demonstrate its applicability in horticultural practice. A methodological approach facilitating the microbial community acquisition of apples was established using membrane filtration. The biopreparation was found to improve the microbial quality of apples by reducing community metabolic stress and positively modulating the composition of fungal taxa in the apple mycobiome as compared with the chemical fungicide treatment.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The APPAT(f)REE study demonstrates a multifaceted approach to Neofabraea spp., including support for the natural apple fruit microbial communities, and thus it promotes a sustainable pest management system. © 2026 Society of Chemical Industry.</p>","PeriodicalId":218,"journal":{"name":"Pest Management Science","volume":" ","pages":"9322-9342"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13453167/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148215600","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Stability studies of cynaropicrin-major sesquiterpene lactone of Cynara cardunculus leaves.","authors":"Daniela Rosa, Carlos Rial, José Mg Molinillo, Alejandro Sampalo, Rosa M Varela, Francisco A Macías, Maria F Duarte","doi":"10.1002/ps.70931","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ps.70931","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Cynaropicrin, the major sesquiterpene lactone in Cynara cardunculus leaves, exhibits phytotoxic activity and is a promising candidate for sustainable weed management. However, its environmental stability and the biological activity of its transformation products under agronomic and soil conditions remain poorly understood. This study investigated its stability under high temperature (50 °C) and pH (5 and 8), mimicking agronomic extremes, and under soil context.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Cynaropicrin remained stable at 50 °C and pH 5 for up to 72 h but degraded extensively at pH 8, with an 80% concentration reduction over 7 days. Deacylcynaropicrin emerged as the major degradation product under alkaline conditions. In soil, complete degradation occurred within 7 days, producing dehydrocynaropicrin and a new compound, 4,15-dihydro-dehydrocynaropicrin. Bioassays demonstrated that both degradation products exhibited higher phytotoxic activity against P. oleracea than cynaropicrin and deacylcynaropicrin.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This research is the first to highlight cynaropicrin's stability, characterize the structures of its degradation products, and their phytotoxicity, showing the strong impact of environmental factors and microbes. The findings underscore its ecological importance and potential for sustainable weed control. © 2026 The Author(s). Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.</p>","PeriodicalId":218,"journal":{"name":"Pest Management Science","volume":" ","pages":"8820-8830"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13453266/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147947321","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cyclic lipopeptides anikasin, anikasinβ and anikasinγ produced from Pseudomonas sp. JQ36 and their biocontrol activities against Phytophthora capsici.","authors":"Zongwang Ma, Xingyuan Zhou, Lu Zhang, Xiao Yang","doi":"10.1002/ps.70930","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ps.70930","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Phytophthora capsici is the causal agent of Phytophthora, a destructive disease that causes yield losses in pepper worldwide. However, chemical pesticides reducing this blight have adverse effects on environmental sustainability, pest resistance and pesticide residues. Thus, developing more friendly biopesticides against P. capsici is an alternative approach for the sustainable production of peppers in practice.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Genome mining has indicated that strain JQ36 encodes a nonribosomal peptide synthatase (NRPS). Subsequently, the NRPS-derived cyclic lipopeptides (CLPs) anikasin (1), two new anikasinβ (2) and anikasinγ (3) were co-produced from Pseudomonas sp. JQ36 via an OSMAC (one strain many compounds) approach. Specifically, the OSMAC approach used in this study involved adding l-Leu or l-Val to the culture media of strain JQ36. Further structural elucidation characterized the chemical structures of anikasin (1) as d-Leu₁, d-Asp₂, d-allo-Thr₃, d-Leu₄, d-Leu₅, d-Ser₆, l-Leu₇, d-Ser₈, l-Leu₉, l-Ile₁₀ and l-Asp₁₁, linked to a (R)-3-hydroxycapric acid (HDA). Intriguingly, the substitutions of l-Ile₁₀ as l-Leu₁₀ for anikasinβ (2), and l-Ile₁₀ as l-Val₁₀ for anikasinγ (3) indicated the substrate flexibility for this NRPS. Moreover, the biocontrol data revealed that anikasins have the capacity to control P. capsici by inhibiting germination and lysis of zoospores of this pathogen, finally decreasing the incidence of Phytophthora foliar blight on pepper plants.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study demonstrates that anikasins could potentially serve as novel biopesticides for controlling Phytophthora foliar blight on peppers. © 2026 Society of Chemical Industry.</p>","PeriodicalId":218,"journal":{"name":"Pest Management Science","volume":" ","pages":"8810-8819"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13453243/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147947375","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Design and synthesis of thiazolyl hydrazide derivatives as potent antifungal agent.","authors":"Tianle Wu, Wei Zhang, Quanshui Wang, Renwu Yu, Yi Wang, Jinguang Guo, Longfei Li, Fei Cao, Li Han, Lijuan Wang, Wan Li","doi":"10.1002/ps.70918","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ps.70918","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Fungal pathogen causes a persistent threat to global agricultural productivity. Thiazole and hydrazide derivatives exhibit broad-spectrum and potent antifungal activity, demonstrating significant potential as novel antifungal agents.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In this article, 45 thiazolyl hydrazide derivatives were designed and synthesized as potential succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) inhibitors. These compounds exhibited broad-spectrum antifungal activity against seven pathogens, notably compounds A5 and A33 showed the most significant activity against Pythium aphanidermatum and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, and compound A37 with cyclopropyl and 3-chloro-2-fluorophenyl substituents showed significant efficacy against Rhizoctonia cerealis (half-maximal effective concentration (EC₅₀ = 0.49 mg L^-1) and Alternaria alternata (EC₅₀ = 1.81 mg L^-1), while maintaining a comparable protective effect (88.5%) to that of the reference fungicide bixafen. The structure-activity relationship has also been analyzed in detail. Preliminary mechanistic studies indicated that compound A37 disrupted the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle through inhibiting SDH. Concurrently, the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) were reduced, resulting in elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulation, which will damage the integrity of fungi cells. Molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation confirmed the binding affinity of compound A37 with SDH. The cytotoxicity experiments indicated that the thiazolyl hydrazide derivatives belong to the low-toxicity compounds.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Bioactivity screening and antifungal mechanism suggested the potential of thiazolyl hydrazide derivatives as promising, eco-friendly candidates for the development of novel antifungal agents. © 2026 Society of Chemical Industry.</p>","PeriodicalId":218,"journal":{"name":"Pest Management Science","volume":" ","pages":"8687-8698"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13453195/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147961594","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Droplet size spectrum, velocity, angle and flow rate of pulse-width-modulated spray nozzles with adjuvants.","authors":"João Paulo Arantes Rodrigues da Cunha, Erdal Ozkan, Hongyoung Jeon, Heping Zhu","doi":"10.1002/ps.70932","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ps.70932","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Droplet size distribution, droplet velocity, spray angle and flow rate are key factors influencing pesticide efficacy and environmental impact. However, it remains poorly understood how these parameters are affected by the interaction among pulse-width modulation (PWM), nozzle types and, in particular, spray adjuvants. This study investigated these factors using four flat-fan nozzle types (standard with 80° and 110° spray angles, pre-orifice and air-induction). Water and two commercial adjuvant formulations [a nonionic surfactant (NIS), and a drift control agent (DCA)] were used across five PWM duty cycles (20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100%).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>PWM duty cycle primarily governed flow rate, which was mostly unaffected by spray solution. By contrast, droplet size distribution was strongly affected by adjuvant type, duty cycle and nozzle type. Generally, droplet size increased as duty cycle decreased for all nozzle types, regardless of spray solution. Adjuvants further modified droplet size at each duty cycle: DCA markedly increased droplet size and reduced fine droplets, whereas NIS produced a moderate increase compared with water. Both adjuvants tended to produce more uniform droplet size spectra, mitigating the PWM tendency to increase the relative span index at lower duty cycles. Decreasing the duty cycle consistently narrowed the spray angle, with the air-induction nozzle showing the greatest sensitivity owing to incomplete sheet development under short valve-open times.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>These findings demonstrate that optimizing PWM-controlled spray performance requires not only appropriate duty cycle selection, but also the use of adjuvant formulations tailored to each nozzle type. © 2026 The Author(s). Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.</p>","PeriodicalId":218,"journal":{"name":"Pest Management Science","volume":" ","pages":"8831-8843"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13453229/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147947357","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Host-associated chemical cues mediating host-finding behaviour in the larval ectoparasitoid Cephalonomia tarsalis.","authors":"Lidia Del Arco, Benjamin Fürstenau, Cristina Castañé, Jordi Riudavets","doi":"10.1002/ps.70896","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ps.70896","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Understanding how parasitoids locate their hosts is essential for improving the effectiveness of these insects as biological control agents. The bethylid ectoparasitoid Cephalonomia tarsalis is a key natural enemy of the sawtoothed grain beetle Oryzaephilus surinamensis, an important stored product pest. While some aspects of its host-finding behaviour are understood, the significance of larval host-associated volatile cues remains largely unclear. This study investigated the influence of host-specific odours on host location by C. tarsalis females.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Volatile compounds released from fourth-instar larval faeces were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and their behavioural relevance was evaluated using Y-tube olfactometer bioassays alongside odours from different host stages (live larvae and adults) and from host-associated food substrates. Females responded positively to most of the tested odours, including those from host adults, larval faeces, and host-associated food substrates. Among the compounds identified in the faecal volatiles of host larvae, 1-pentadecene was found to be significantly attractive. In flight-cage experiments, 1-pentadecene induced behavioural responses in test parasitoids that were similar to those elicited by larval faeces.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Host-associated volatile cues, particularly those derived from larval faeces, play a key role in mediating the host-searching behaviour of C. tarsalis females. These findings provide a basis for the development of semiochemical-based approaches to enhance the efficiency of this biological control agent for stored-product pests. © 2026 The Author(s). Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.</p>","PeriodicalId":218,"journal":{"name":"Pest Management Science","volume":" ","pages":"8459-8467"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13453238/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147866046","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}