252 Kamala Jayanthi PD et al.
lepidopteran and sucking pests that are most de-
structive and persistent in spice crop ecosystems
(Table 1 ). Semiochemical work on cardamom
shoot and capsule borer Conogethes punctifera-
lis Guenee (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) is directed
extensively on the sex pheromones in order to
monitor moth populations. The calling behavior
and attractive responses of male C. puntiferalis
to the female crude extract and synthetic blend
was studied in detail by Rajabaskar and Regu-
pathy ( 2012 ) who found that attraction of male
moths to synthetic blend (E-10-hexadecenal and
Z-10-hexadecenal) was maximum at 90:10 and
followed by 80:20 ratio. However, the field trap-
ping studies by JinKyo et al. (2000) revealed the
best attraction of males to blend at 70:30 ratio of
E-10-hexadecenal and Z-10-hexadecenal for hair
pencil extrusion and at 80:20 ratio for the flying
upwind response with the highest attractiveness
in fields between 70:30 and 80:20. Apart from
field pests, the stored-product pests are also re-
sponsible for tremendous damage and economic
losses during post-harvest phase of spices. Of
which in the cigarette beetle, Lasioderma serri-
corne (F.), also known as the tobacco beetle, syn-
thetic serricornin (4,6-dimethyl-7-hydroxy-non-
an-3-one), a female sex pheromone is commer-
cially available (Chuman et al. 1985 ) with noted
variation in the chemical and isomeric purity of
synthetic compound based on manufacturer.
Scope
Future applications of semiochemicals depend on
the availability of the potential cues that enable
efficient manipulation of mate- and host-finding
behavior in horticultural pests. It is now within
our reach to facilitate the discovery of relevant
chemical cues with emerging molecular/sensi-
tive biochemical-behavioral equipments. Never-
theless, detection and identification of potential
semiochemicals for several Indian horticultural
crop pests are still rudimentary and particularly
needed. Our thorough understanding of insect–
insect/insect–plant interactions via semiochemi-
cals, that are involved in tritrophic interactions,
could form an integral component for updating
the current IPM programs. To understand the role
of semiochemicals in insect–plant interactions,
in addition to studying the behavioral responses
of host plant-pest-natural enemies, we should be
able to elucidate the origin of these chemical cues
and also locate the trophic level at which they are
potentially active. Of all these, the most promis-
ing will be studying the combination of host plant
derived kairomones and sex/aggregation phero-
mones for developing sound behavior modifying
pest management tactics. This will help to formu-
late end-to-end programs with viable behavioral
cues that can be incorporated into current IPM
programs. Many of the successful early studies in
this field are the result of collaborations between
biologists and chemists that helped to elucidate
the structures of the chemical cues. Thus, cus-
tomized work plan to take advantage of collab-
orative work on the biology, chemical ecology,
physiology, analytical chemistry, and molecular
biology is the need of the hour in order to eluci-
date, develop, and standardize the field applica-
tion of sustainable semiochemical based IPM.References
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