Pheromones and chemical mutagens No. 4

In this way, complete misinformation of insects can be achieved, leading to a decrease in mating. However, where this is desired, it will be possible, on the contrary, to stimulate the mating of insects. It has long been known that aphids avoid wild potato leaves. At first they thought that they were frightened by the sticky hairs on the leaves. However, it turned out that the leaves of this plant produce a special pheromone that causes a state of panic in insects.


Now that genetic engineering methods are being developed, there is already, according to English scientists, the fundamental possibility of producing crops that secrete pheromones that cause anxiety of insect pests. One of the biological methods of controlling insects, in which chemistry plays an important role, the method using chemical mutagens, was proposed back in the 1950s. Chemical mutagens are compounds that cause hereditary changes in living organisms (animals, plants and protozoa). These include nitrosoalkylureas, dialkyl sulfates, ethyleneimine. The essence of the method is that first, in laboratory conditions, it is necessary to remove a large number of male individuals using chemical mutagens, after mating with which the females would give only larvae. These larvae could not develop into adults when insects degenerate. The difficulty is that the number of males bred in the laboratory is large enough and can compete with the number of males living in the fields. With this method, it will be possible to do without pesticides or to use them in small quantities. Recently, real experiments in this field have already appeared. 60 million larvae of green meat flies were delivered to one of the islands off the coast of Australia, which usually causes great damage to the country's agriculture. These larvae were obtained as follows. Initially, the original larvae were genetically altered using chemical mutagens, X-ray, and gamma radiation. Then a selection was made and, using repeated crosses, viable mutants were obtained. Females fertilized by mutant males give abnormal offspring: insects will be sterile or blind. The transfer of these traits to further offspring should lead to the extinction of the entire population. Here chemistry (mutagens) and physics (radiation) are in the service of biology, which will render undoubted assistance in the future to agriculture. $1 deposit casino new zealand