Development of pheromones for innovative management of Forest Bug, an emerging pest of orchards in England: FORBUG

水果种植每年为英国经济创造超过10亿英镑的收入，其中苹果和梨为英国经济带来超过2.5亿英镑的收入。林虫是果园中的一种新出现的害虫，可能是由于杀虫剂的停用和气候变化的影响。它会导致水果变形和坑坑洼洼，这可能导致高达40%的生产力损失和浪费，因为水果无法销售。目前，这种害虫是通过费力地在果树上侦察来监测的。这个名为FORBUG的项目最初是为了识别和合成森林害虫的特定物种信息素，这将为监测和控制这种害虫提供一种创新的方法。尽管进行了广泛的研究，但没有发现信息素，然而，项目团队在项目接近尾声时有了一个“尤里卡”时刻，并成功地证明了成年森林昆虫会被光吸引。因此，这一发现为在7月份飞行高峰期监测和控制苹果园和梨园的成虫提供了另一种解决方案。这种方法将有助于减少对常规化学杀虫剂的需求，因为这些杀虫剂会扰乱虫害综合管理方案，并可能损害环境。因此，该项目的范围大致相同，但监测和控制的机制发生了变化，光取代了信息素的吸引。该项目由Agrovista UK Ltd牵头，Agrovista UK Ltd是提供农艺建议、种子、作物保护产品和精准农业服务的领先供应商，与园艺种植者合作。其他商业合作伙伴包括Avalon Fresh Ltd，一家跨水果价值链的农艺和技术咨询提供商，以及Russell IPM，一家英国病虫害管理创新产品的专业生产商。罗素IPM是建议将光作为引诱剂而不是信息素的关键，并在光吸引臭虫方面拥有专业知识。他们愿意为2024年继续研究提供诱饵，这样这个项目的势头就不会丧失，该项目将于2024年3月结束。行业合作伙伴最初与NIAB和NRI的科学家合作，后者在识别、合成和应用信息素监测和控制害虫方面拥有国际公认的专业知识。NIAB已经向英国苹果和梨有限公司提交了一个后续项目，以在2024年获得资金。英国的苹果和梨种植者将是后续项目的关键，在FORBUG期间，我们已经确定了可以彻底测试光吸引力的果园。由于果园行业对英国经济的重要性，以下项目的成果将特别适用于这里，该项目涉及最初的合作伙伴专家团队。应该指出的是，森林害虫在其他欧洲国家是一种害虫，因此光吸引商业成果将产生更广泛的影响，有可能在该地区以外开发新的技术和产品。

Fruit-growing generates over £1 billion for the UK economy annually with apples and pears contributing over £250 million. Forest bug, Pentatoma rufipes, is an emerging pest in orchards, probably driven by the withdrawal of pesticides, and the effects of climate change. It causes fruit deformity and pitting which can result in up to 40% losses in productivity and waste due to unsaleable fruit. The pest is currently monitored by laborious scouting for the pest in orchard trees. This project, FORBUG, originally set out to identify and synthesise species-specific pheromones for forest bug that would have provided an innovative approach for monitoring and controlling this pest. Despite extensive studies no pheromone was identified, however the project team had a ‘Eureka’ moment towards the end of the project and were successful in demonstrating adult forest bugs were attracted to light. Hence, this finding offers an alternative solution to monitor and control adult forest bug in apple and pear orchards during peak times of flight in July. This approach will help reduce the need for conventional, chemical insecticides that disrupt integrated pest management programmes and potentially harm the environment. Hence the scope of the project is broadly the same, but the mechanism of monitoring and control, light instead of pheromone attraction, has changed. The project is led by Agrovista UK Ltd which is a leading supplier of agronomy advice, seed, crop protection products and precision farming services, working in partnership with horticultural growers. Other commercial partners are Avalon Fresh Ltd, an agronomic and technical advice provider across the fruit value chain and Russell IPM, a UK specialist producer of innovative products for pest and disease management. Russell IPM have been key in suggesting light as an attractant instead of pheromones and have expertise in light attraction of stink bugs. They are willing to provide light traps to continue research into 2024 so the momentum of this project which ends in March 2024 is not lost. The industry partners originally collaborated with scientists from NIAB and NRI who have internationally recognised expertise in identification, synthesis, and application of pheromones for monitoring and control of insect pests. NIAB have submitted a follow-on project to British Apples and Pears Ltd for funding in 2024.English apple and pear growers will be key to the follow-on project, and during FORBUG we have identified orchards where light attraction can be thoroughly tested. Because of the importance of the orchard industry to the UK economy, the outputs of a following project which involves the original expert team of partners will be particularly applicable here. It should be noted that, forest bug is a pest in other European countries, so the light attraction commercial outcomes will have much wider impacts with the potential for developing new skills and products outside the region.