Management of Lepidoptera
A special issue of Insects (ISSN 2075-4450).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2023) | Viewed by 6319
Special Issue Editors
Interests: harmfulness and biological control of grapevine pests; pheromone mating disruption; implementation of "Area Wide Pest Management" strategies; insect vibrational communication, with particular reference to grapevine leafhoppers and planthoppers; morphology of insect pheromone glands and antennae
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: biological control of vineyard pests; semiochemicals; beneficial insects; IPM
Interests: insect behaviour; biological control; chemical ecology; mating disruption; ecotoxicology; integrate pest and vector management; One Health
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The Order Lepidoptera, one of the main plant-feeding group of insects in the world, includes significant pests of agricultural crops and stored foodstuffs. Taxonomically divided into the generalized groupings of Rhopalocera (day-flying butterflies) and Heterocera (mostly nocturnal moths), it shows incredible diversity of form, biology, behaviour, and feeding habits of species that occur in almost all known habitats.
With an estimated 160,000-named taxa, moths and butterflies can cause huge losses by damaging fruits, corn, potatoes, cotton, tomatoes, and many other crops and garden plants as well. Many species play significant roles in crop and wildflowers pollination, especially those belonging to Sphingidae and Noctuidae. Moreover, Lepidoptera can be good indicators of ecosystem healthiness and several species have been purposefully introduced to act as biological control agents against noxious plants.
In the past, the need to protect the crops from economically significant attacks of butterflies and moths has forced the farm managers to resort to large amounts of broad-spectrum synthetic chemicals. In recent years, the use of more selective insecticides, such as Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki and aizawai, chitin synthesis inhibitors (CSIs), moulting accelerators (MACs), and some kinds of modern neurotoxic compounds have significantly improved the control of moths and butterflies, reducing or minimizing the environmental damage. An increased level of public concern about the environmental impact of insecticides have also led to the development of low-impact biotechnical methods, such as pheromone mating disruption, mass trapping, or ‘lure and kill’ strategies.
In this framework, the Special Issue “Management of Lepidoptera” will host original research and review articles focusing on innovative and sustainable management strategies of butterflies and moth pests. We also welcome contributions on insecticide resistance, as well as on the sublethal effects of anthropogenic stressors. Of note, particular interest will be devoted to submissions focusing on invasive species.
Prof. Dr. Andrea Lucchi
Dr. Renato Ricciardi
Dr. Giovanni Benelli
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Insects is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- butterflies
- moth
- fruit moths
- vine moths
- olive moths
- tomato moths
- semiochemical
- insecticide resistance
- sublethal effect
- biological control
- integrated pest management (IPM)
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