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带来超过10亿英镑的收入，其中苹果和梨的收入超过2.5亿英镑。森林臭虫，五角星，是果园里的一种新兴害虫，可能是由农药的退出和气候变化的影响造成的。它会导致果实畸形和点蚀，导致高达40%的生产力损失和由于无法销售的果实而造成的浪费。目前监测这种害虫的方法是在果园里费力地寻找害虫。这个名为FORBUG的项目最初的目的是鉴定和合成森林昆虫的物种特异性信息素，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结束时有了一个“尤里卡”的时刻，并成功地证明了成年森林昆虫会被光线吸引。因此，这一发现为7月苹果和梨果园的成虫飞行高峰监测和控制提供了另一种解决方案。这种方法将有助于减少对传统化学杀虫剂的需求，这些杀虫剂会破坏综合虫害管理规划并可能危害环境。因此，该项目的范围大致相同，但监测和控制的机制，光而不是信息素吸引，已经改变了。该项目由Agrovista英国有限公司领导，该公司是农艺咨询、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。其他商业合作伙伴是Avalon Fresh有限公司，一家在整个水果价值链上提供农艺和技术咨询的公司，以及罗素IPM公司，一家英国害虫和疾病管理创新产品的专业生产商。罗素IPM在建议光作为引诱剂而不是信息素方面发挥了关键作用，并在光吸引臭虫方面拥有专业知识。他们愿意提供光阱来继续研究到2024年，所以这个项目的势头不会失去，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，他们在害虫监测和控制信息素的鉴定、合成和应用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，希望在2024年获得资助。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。由于果园产业对英国经济的重要性，涉及原始合作伙伴专家团队的后续项目的产出将特别适用于此。应该指出的是，森林臭虫在其他欧洲国家也是一种有害生物，因此轻吸引力的商业成果将产生更广泛的影响，并有可能在该区域以外开发新技术和产品。

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.