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Article: Making scents of insects. (pest control for food companies using pheromones)
- Article from:
- Food Processing
- Article date:
- May 1, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Putman Media, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Pheromones are latest non-toxic way to monitor pest populations and guide extermination efforts.
Insects may produce the key to their own control: pheromones.
Pheromones are specific, organic, chemical perfumes, secreted by insects to locate and attract mates. These olfactory cues dictate a variety of social behaviors, including courtship, mating and egg laying. Some pheromones, like those of the gypsy moth, are extremely powerful. Gypsy moths can detect the scent of potential mates as far away as six miles.
Although pest-control experts and entomologists have been aware of this chemical form of communication since the early 1900s, pheromones have only ...