YAKUGAKU ZASSHI

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Volume 144 (2024) Issue 6 Pages 675-683

A Pilot Test of Olive Weevil Repellents in an Olive Orchard

Atsushi Mitsumoto, Tohru Yamazaki

Recently, feeding damage by the olive weevil Pimelocerus (Dyscerus) perforatus Roelofs, which utilizes olive trees (Olea europaea Linne) as a host plant, has become the biggest obstacle to olive cultivation in Japan. We previously identified several volatile plant-derived natural products that exhibit repellent activity against olive weevils. In this study, we conducted a pilot test of repellents in an olive orchard along with the use of insecticide. During three consecutive years from 2021 to 2023, the first year was the observation period, and the second and third years were set aside for a trial period for o-vanillin and geraniol as repellents, respectively. Using o-vanillin, the number of adult olive weevil outbreaks decreased to almost half a year in the experimental area, the use of geraniol then resulted in a drastic reduction of the number of individual olive weevils in the experimental area. In contrast, adults and larvae outbreaks increased in the control area without a repellent, despite the use of insecticide. These results indicate that the volatile repellents drove the olive weevils away and kept them at bay in the field. Based on the observations, we will be able to provide a new approach for the control of olive cultivation, including fruit and leaves used for commercial purposes, following integrated pest management (IPM) practices, such as reducing environmental poisoning from intense insecticides, and returning olive weevils to their original habitat outside of olive orchards.

Editor's pick

Olive weevil, utilizing olive trees as a host plant, is the greatest obstacle to olive cultivation in Japan. This paper reports on the demonstration that a plant-derived aromatic chemical that has been shown to be repellent to the olive weevil in the laboratory also has repellent activity in an olive orchard. The use of this environment-friendly chemical as a repellent against olive weevil will reduce the amounts of toxic insecticides and enable olive cultivation based on integrated pest management.

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2024 Volume 144 Issue 6

Uric Acid Metabolism, Uric Acid Transporters and Dysuricemia Kimiyoshi Ichida
Effect of Perioperative Docetaxel-induced Limb Edema on Health-related Quality of Life in Patients with Early-stage Breast Cancer: A Prospective Observational Study Kaori Matsumoto, Yoshihito Morimoto, Junichiro Wakatsuki, Daiki Sakuma, Keiko Mukouyama, Masayuki Inoue, Ayako Kimura, Iori Hirosawa, Kazuhiro Watanabe
Speed and Accuracy of Recording Medication History by Pharmacists in Secondary Emergency Rooms Hiroki Tateishi, Youhei Yano, Takao Goto, Daisuke Miyazu, Hiroyuki Watanabe
Metals and Microorganisms: Expansion to Drug-discovery and Environmental Science Seiji Komeda, Shin Aoki

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