Soft pesticides based on insect growth regulators:Reshaping arthropod vector and urban pest management

SU Tianyun; LIU Hongxia

doi:10.19821/j.1671-2781.2024.03.001

Abstract：Arthropod disease vectors and pests,referring primarily to insects and arachnids,continue to pose a significant threat to public health and human well-being despite advancements in integrated management tactics.This situation has been intensified by globalization,urbanization,and indiscriminate uses of pesticide as well as resistance development.Although conventional pesticides based on organochlorines,organophosphates,carbamates and pyrethroids have historically played crucial role in protection of humans and animals from the diseases and nuisance by arthropod vectors and pests,their adverse impacts on the environmental and non-targets have been increasingly concerned worldwide.Ever since the 1970s,soft pesticides based on insect growth regulators(IGRs)have drawn a lot of attention for research and development upon progressive understanding of life events in arthropods.However,this research and development process experienced ebb and flow largely due to the availability and immediate action of conventional pesticides,which was positively perceived by operators and the public.Nevertheless,soft pesticides with origins of analogs,mimics or agonists of insect hormones and chitin synthesis inhibitors have achieved some noticeable successes in many aspects.The most successful development and application of soft pesticides are juvenile hormone(JH)analogs(JHAs)such as methoprene,hydroprene and kinoprene,which have been used in controlling a wide range of vectors and pests of environmental importance.The newly innovated S-methobutene has opened another window of success.Juvenile hormone mimics(JHMs)namely pyriproxyfen and fenoxycarb,have also been fairly well studied and developed with noticeable operational uses in vector and pest management.Interest in developing peptidic juvenoids(PJs)has been renewed recently due to their JH bioactivity and expected benign environmental profile as peptides.Great potential has been indicated in molting hormone agonists(MH As)which possess much broader susceptibility window time than JHAs in combating many pestiferous species.Chitin synthesis inhibitors(CSIs)have been well recognized by their unique mode of action leading to a broad species spectrum.In summary,it is reasonably expected that soft pesticides based on IGRs will increasingly play more roles in management of arthropod vectors and urban pests in the foreseeable future,alone or in combination with selected conventional pesticides.