Economic entomology
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204837507
2008-04-11T02:32:29Z
205.250.237.212
/* 20th Century */
'''Economic entomology''' is a field of [[entomology]], which involves the study of [[insects]] that are of benefit or those that cause harm to humans, [[domestic animals]], and [[Crop (agriculture)|crops]]. Insects that cause losses are termed as [[pest (organism)|pests]]. Some species can cause indirect damage by spreading diseases and these are termed as [[vector (biology)|vectors]]. Those that are beneficial include those reared for food such as [[honey]], substances such as [[lac]] or pigments and for their role in [[pollinator|pollinating]] crops and controlling pests.
==Early Workers==
Economic entomology began in China where in 1061 [[Shen Kuo]] described the role of predatory insects in protecting crops from insect pests and ....''to be continued''
[[Image:Bamboo book - unfolded - UCR.jpg|thumb|Chinese bamboo book]]
In the 18th century many works were published on agriculture.Many cotained accounts of pest insects. In France [[Claude Sionnest]] (1749-1820) was a notable figure.
== Early literature ==
===19th Century===
[[Image:Curtis_potato_pests.jpg|thumb|A plate from John Curtis' ''Farm Insects'']]
The most able exponent of this subject in [[Great Britain]] was [[John Curtis (entomologist)|John Curtis]], whose treatise ''Farm Insects'', published in [[1860]], was once the standard British work dealing with the insect pests of corn, roots, grass and stored corn. The most important works dealing with fruit and other pests were by Saunders, [[Joseph Albert Lintner]], [[Charles Valentine Riley]], [[Mark Vernon Slingerland]] and others in America and Canada. In Europe the earliest works were by [[Ernst Ludwig Taschenberg]], [[Sven Lampa]] (1839-1914), [[Enzio Rafael Reuter]] (1867-1951) and [[Vincenze Kollar]]. [[Charles French (entomologist)|Charles French]] (1842-1933), [[Walter Wilson Froggatt]] (1858 - 1937) and [[Henry Tryon]] (1856-1943) pioneered in Australia. It was not until the last quarter of the 19th century that any real advance was made in the study of economic entomology. Among the early writings, besides the book of Curtis, there was also a publication by Pohl and Kollar, entitled ''Insects Injurious to Gardeners, Foresters and Farmers'', published in [[1837]], and Taschenberg's ''Praktische Insecktenkunde''.During the 19th century [[Italy|Italian]] entomologists made significant progress in controlling diseases of the Silk moth which supported the [[silk]] industry, in the control of agricultural pests and in stored product entomology.Significant figures were: [[Agostino Bassi]] ( 1773-1856), [[Camillo Róndani]] (1808 - 1879),[[Adolfo Targioni Tozzetti]] (1823 –1902),Pietro Stefanelli (1835, 1919), [[Camillo Acqua]] (1863 -1936) [[Antonio Berlese]] (1863-1927),[[Gustavo Leonardi]](1869-1918) and [[Enrico Verson]] (1845 - 1927).In France [[Etienne Laurent Joseph Hippolyte Boyer de Fonscolombe]] , [[Charles Jean-Baptiste Amyot]], [[Émile Blanchard]], [[Valéry Mayet]] and [[Claude Charles Goureau]] were early workers as was [[Jean Victoire Audouin]] the author of ''Histoire des insectes nuisibles à la vigne et particulièrement de la Pyrale'', [[Philippe Alexandre Jules Künckel d'Herculais]] and [[Jean-Étienne Girard]].American literature began as far back as [[1788]], when a report on the [[Hessian fly]] was issued by [[Sir Joseph Banks]]; in 1817 [[Thomas Say]] began his writings; while in 1856 [[Asa Fitch]] started his report on ''Noxious Insects of New York''. Also in America, [[Matthew Cooke]] wrote ''Treatise on the Insects Injurious to Fruit and Fruit Trees of the State of California, and Remedies Recommended for Their Extermination'', published in 1881.The Englishman [[Frederick Vincent Theobald]] wrote A text-book of agricultural zoology in 1890.It became a standard text worldwide.
===20th Century===
Among the most important reports early in the 20th century were those of [[Charles Valentine Riley]], published by the [[U.S. Department of Agriculture]], extending from [[1878]] to his death, in which is embodied an enormous amount of valuable material. At his death the work fell to Professor [[Leland Ossian Howard]], in the form of ''Bulletin of the U.S. Department of Agriculture''. The chief writings of [[J. A. Lintner]] extend from 1882 to 1898, in yearly parts, under the title of ''Reports on the Injurious Insects of the State of New York''. Another significant contributor to the entomological literature of the United states was [[Charles W. Woodworth]].The [[Florida]] entomologist [[Wilmon Newell]] was a pioneer of pest control as was [[Clarence Preston Gillette]].In India [[Thomas Bainbrigge Fletcher]], who succeeded [[Harold Maxwell-Lefroy]] and [[Lionel de Niceville]] as the first Imperial Entomologist, wrote ''Some South Indian insects and other animals of importance considered especially from an economic point of view'', an influential work in the subcontinent.In France [[Alfred Balachowsky]] was a key figure.
In the last quarter of the 20th century new techniques were pioneered and new theories developed, for instance [[Integrated Pest Management]] by [[Ray F. Smith]].
== Harmful insects ==
Insects considered ''pests'' of some sort occur among all major living orders with the exception of [[Ephemeroptera]] (mayflies), [[Odonata]], [[Plecoptera]] (stoneflies), [[Embioptera]] (webspinners), [[Trichoptera]] (caddisflies), [[Neuroptera]] (in the broad sense), and [[Mecoptera]] (also, the tiny groups [[Zoraptera]], [[Grylloblattodea]], and [[Mantophasmatodea]]). Conversely, of course, essentially all insect orders primarily have members which are beneficial, in some respects, with the exception of [[Phthiraptera]] (lice), [[Siphonaptera]] (fleas), and [[Strepsiptera]], the three orders whose members are exclusively [[parasite|parasitic]].
Insects are considered as pests for a variety of reasons including their
* direct damage by feeding on crop plants in the field or by infesting stored products
* indirect damage by spreading [[Virus|viral]] diseases of crop plants (especially by sucking insects such as [[leafhopper]]s)
* spreading disease among humans and livestock
* annoyance to humans
Examples
* [[Phylloxera| The Phylloxera plague]]
[[Image:phylloxera_cartoon.png|thumb|''The phylloxera, a true gourmet, finds out the best vineyards and attaches itself to the best wines''<br/><small>Cartoon from [[Punch (magazine)|Punch]], 6 Sep. 1890</small>)]]
*[[Migratory locust]]
*[[Colorado potato beetle]]
*[[Boll weevil]]
*[[Japanese beetle]]
*[[Aphid|Aphids]]
*[[Mosquito|Mosquitoes]]
*[[Cockroach]]
*[[Western corn rootworm]]
See also [[Category:Pest insects|Pest insects]]
In the past entomologists working on pest insects attempted to ''eradicate'' species. This has rarely worked except in islands or controlled environments and raises ethical issues. Over time the language has changed to terms like ''control'' and ''management''. The indiscriminate use of toxic and persistent chemicals and the resurgence of pests in the history of cotton growing in the US has been particularly well studied.
==Beneficial insects==
[[Image:Boll_weevil_monument.jpg|200px|right|thumb|[[Boll Weevil Monument]], erected by the citizens of [[Enterprise, Alabama]] to honour the pest that ended their dependence on cotton, a poverty crop.]]
[[Honey]] is perhaps the most economically valuable product from insects. [[Apiculture]] is a commercial enterprise in most parts of the world and many forest tribes have been dependent on honey as a major source of nutrition. Honeybees can also act as pollinators of crop species. Many predators and parasitoid insects are encouraged and augmented in modern agriculture.
[[Silk]] is extracted from both reared caterpillars as well as from the wild. [[Sericulture]] deals with the techniques for efficient silkworm rearing and silk production. Although new fabric materials have substituted silk in many applications, it continues to be the material of choice for surgical sutures.
[[Lac]] was once extracted from scale insects but is now replaced by synthetic substitutes. The dye extracted from [[cochineal]] insects was similarly replaced by technological advances.
The idea of insects as human food, [[entomophagy]], has been proposed as a solution to meet the growing demand for food, but has not gained widespread acceptance.
==See also==
*[[Beekeeping]]
*[[Home stored product entomology]]
==References==
* D. S. Hill (1983). ''Agricultural Insect Pests of the Tropics and their Control''. Cambridge University Press
* [[Clell Lee Metcalf |Metcalf, C. L.]] and W. P. Flint (1925) Destructive and Useful Insects.
==External links==
*[http://www.em.ipw.agrl.ethz.ch/index.php Homepage of the Applied Entomology Group ETH Zurich]
*[http://www.archive.org/details/bibliographyofmo07unitiala Bibliography of the more important contributions to American economic entomology (Volume 7) (1889-1905)]Free book.History.
*[http://www.pestmanagement.co.uk/lib/glossary.shtml Pest Management Glossary]
*[http://www.pestmanagement.co.uk/lib/history.shtml History of Pest Control Timeline]
*[http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/entomology/pestlink.html North Carolina State University Department of Entomology]
*[http://www.faculty.ucr.edu/~legneref/bcimage/worker.htm Pest Control Experts] Publications, portraits.
*[http://www.faculty.ucr.edu/~legneref/taxonomy/taxnames.htm#explain Principal Groups of Insect parasites and predators]
*[http://www.entomology.ucr.edu/ebeling/Urban Entomology]Seminal work by Walter Ebeling
*[http://www.faculty.ucr.edu/~legneref/biotact/bcdipt.ref.htm Bibliography of synanthropic control of synanthropic Diptera]]
*[[http://www.afpmb.org/pubs/tims/tg27/docs/Insect%20and%20Mite%20Pests%20in%20Food%20Gorham.pdf Insect and Mite Pests in food]]U.S.D.A. Goreham 316 pages,illustrated.
*[http://www.padil.gov.au/aboutOverview.aspx Pests and Diseases Image Library]
*[http://www.icb.usp.br/~marcelcp/ Veterinary Parasitology at Sao Paolo University]
*[http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/ University of Florida pests pages]
*[http://www.insectes.org/ OPIE]
*[http://www.entsoc.org/pubs/periodicals/jee/index.htm Journal of Economic Entomology]
*[http://www.eppo.org/ European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organisation] Leads through to species accounts through the Quarantine List [http://www.eppo.org/QUARANTINE/listA1.htm] See also the Alert List [http://www.eppo.org/QUARANTINE/Alert_List/alert_list.htm]
*[http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/course/ent425/text18/plantvectors.html Insect Vectors of Plant Pathogens]
*[http://www.genres.de/CFDEV/edda/template01.php?page=uselist&use=12 European Dictionary of Domestic and Utilised Animals]
[[Category:Entomology]]