Feromônios em gafanhotos (Orthoptera: Caelifera): agregação e reprodução.

Abstract

Locusts (Orthoptera: Caelifera) stand out mainly for their economic importance, since many species are common pests in agricultural and pasture ecosystems, devastating crops all over the world. In order to reduce the use of chemical intervention, the use of semiochemicals has been investigated, mainly pheromones, as a method for pest control. The present study aimed to present a bibliographic review on the scientific knowledge about sexual and aggregation pheromones in locusts in the world, since there is no compilation in the international scientific literature that even allows comparing the similarities and differences between the pheromones of the studied species. For the methodology, searches were carried out using secondary data available on the internet through base sources. In summary, the existence of sex and aggregation pheromones was demonstrated in only 5 species (Locusta migratoria, Schistocerca gregaria, Schistocerca piceifrons, Schistocerca americana and Dociostaurus maroccanus), which demonstrates how little is known about these substances in Caelifera and the urgent need for invest in research on its composition and its role in physiological and behavioral processes.