Insect Antifeedants

Opender Koul
CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL
2004, 1005 pp.
Price: $189.95
ISBN: 0-415-33400-4

This book is the first to compile all the relevant data on insect antifeedants generated during the past 35 years into one volume as a reference for researchers and practitioners interested in alternative approaches to crop protection. The author has contributed much to our understanding of how insect feeding behavior modification is accomplished through the use of plant defensive chemicals, such as azadirachtin. This compendium of almost 900 compounds and their known biological actions is a one-of-a-kind authoritative reference. The book places antifeedants into their proper context in the rapidly developing field of chemical ecology. It also offers a realistic interpretation of the state of knowledge on insect chemosensory systems that regulate feeding behavior and potential mechanisms by which antifeedants are detected and modify normal functioning of taste cells. The literature citations, while not exhaustive, cover many of the important sources and offer a good entrance into the literature through 2002.

The author discusses the complicated area of feeding bioassays thoroughly. He offers numerous examples covering the wide divergence among insect species and life stages and highlights many of the relevant caveats for meaningful interpretations of these bioassays. The electrophysiological assays are not as thoroughly covered, but other methods developed for certain species are well documented.

A most impressive chapter on structure–activity relationships begins with limonoids, using azadirachtin as the best studied example to date, and follows through the other major groups of antifeedants that are comparatively well studied. The astounding detail presented here makes this an especially useful book for specialists in the field.

Commercialization and the practical aspects of using antifeedants for pest control are not currently well developed, and many of the relevant limitations are highlighted. The bulk of the book is a detailed catalogue of the structure and known biological activity profiles of antifeedant chemicals, with an effort to standardize a 50% level of activity to permit cross-species and compound comparisons. The method of testing, important remarks on life stage and duration of test, and pertinent literature citations are given for each compound on the same page, which is a great help for anyone seeking further details. The alphabetical listing of compounds, which is based mostly on chemical nomenclature, is intended to facilitate searching by the uninitiated but seriously compromises the utility of making comparisons within chemical groups.

Overall, this book is an unparalleled reference for anyone interested in insect antifeedants and should greatly advance the author’s goal of promoting the use of pest control allelochemicals for more sustainable agricultural production.

James L. Frazier
Department of Entomology
Pennsylvania State University
State College, PA
American Entomologist
Vol. 51, No.3, Fall 2005