Trends in the study of insect sex pheromones and their use in pest management

Abstract

Studies on the sex pheromones of insects have been motivated by the expectation of possible application in pest management. At the first stage of the study, sex pheromones of moth species were explored extensively partly because many important crop pests belong to lepidoptera. In this article, mechanisms that underlie the production of species-specific sex pheromones in moths are explained in detail with reference to their biosynthetic routes and enzymes involved therein. I then refer to the recent attempts to produce insect sex pheromones in plants and yeasts. Lastly, recent progress in studies on sex pheromones of some non-lepidopterous insects, mealybugs, aphids, and longhorn beetles, will also be briefly reviewed.