General Insect Management 731
- Cultural Control: Reduction of insect populations using agricultural practices (e.g., rotation,
trap crop, clean culture, resistant plant varieties, adjusting planting/harvesting dates). - Mechanical and Physical Control: Reduction of insect populations using devices that affect
them directly or radically alter their physical environment.
a. Mechanical control: Examples include handpicking, trapping, screens, barriers, sticky
bands, and shading devices.
b. Physical control: Examples include electricity, sound waves, infrared rays, X-rays, light,
and heat or cold. - Regulatory (Legal) Control: Lawful regulation to eradicate, prevent, or control infestations or
reduce damage by insects (e.g., quarantines). - Reproductive Control: Reduction of insect populations using physical treatments or substances
that cause sterility, affect sexual behavior, or otherwise disrupt normal reproduction (e.g.,
insect sterilization, sex attractants, genetic manipulation). - Chemical Control: Reduction of insect populations or prevention of their injury by the using
materials to poison them, attract them to particular devices, or repel them from specified areas. - Biological Control: Reduction of insect populations through the release, conservation, and
establishment of living organisms that have been chosen for that purpose. This would include
classical biocontrol (i.e., release of exotic natural enemies with the purpose of becoming estab-
lished and controlling the targeted pests), conservation biocontrol (i.e., employing strategies
to preserve and enhance the effectiveness of naturally occurring natural enemies), and aug-
mentative biocontrol (i.e., release of natural enemies to augment natural populations of these
enem ies). - Integrated Pest Management (IPM): “A decision support system for the selection and use of
pest control tactics, singly or harmoniously coordinated into a management strategy, based on
cost/benefit analyses that take into account the interests of and impacts on producers, society,
and the environment” (Kogan 1998).
16.2 History
16.2.1 Control Prior to Synthetic Organic Insecticides
16.2.1.1 Brief Overview
Stearns et al. (2010) divide history into three periods: Ancient History (3600 B.C. [B.C.E.^1 ] – 500 A.D.
[C.E.^2 ]), Post-classical Era (500–1500 A.D.), and Modern History (1500 A.D. to present). Although these
periods are somewhat arbitrary, they are convenient for discussing the progressive development of vari-
ous control tactics over time. Much of this information is taken from Flint and van den Bosch (1981) and
Dent (2000).
16.2.1.2 Ancient History
Management tactics, several of which still are used today, had their origins early in recorded history
(Flint and van den Bosch 1981, Dent 2000) and included chemical, cultural, botanical, and biological
control. Chemical control involved the use of inorganic compounds such as sulfur, arsenic, mercury,
and oils (Flint and van den Bosch 1981, Dent 2000). The first records of chemical insecticides appar-
ently are from the Sumerians in 2500 B.C., who used sulfur compounds to control insects and mites.
In 1500 B.C., cultural controls were described and primarily involved manipulation of planting dates.
(^1) Before Current Era, equivalent to B.C.
(^2) Common Era, equivalent to A.D.