BIOLOGICAL PEST CONTROL OF INSECT PESTS THAT THREATEN TREE HEALTH

The Tree Health and Plant Biosecurity Expert Taskforce has identified a number of insects that pose a threat to UK trees and recommended that the UK "Develop and implement procedures for preparedness and contingency planning to predict, monitor and control the spread of pests". They also identified detection and biological control as areas of tree health where there were considerable knowledge gaps.

BIPESCO is an interdisciplinary project that will develop entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) and botanicals to control insect pests that pose a threat to UK trees. Botanicals with attractant or repellent properties will be used alone or with EPF in novel "lure and kill" and "stress and kill" pest control strategies. Attractants will be used to improve pest monitoring and mass trapping.

BIPESCO is timely because new EU legislation encourages the use of natural products as environmentally friendly alternatives to conventional chemical pesticides, usage of which is being severely restricted (Directive 2009/128/EC). Demand for natural products is increasing, and will continue to increase. Thus, opportunity exists to develop these agents, and strategies that enhance their efficacy, to facilitate adoption in the market.

BIPESCO's specific aims are:
1. Identify strains of EPF pathogenic to current and emergent pest species.
2. Identify botanicals that attract or repel target pests.
3. Optimise synergy of EPF and botanicals for use in "lure and kill" and "stress and kill" strategies, and increase knowledge of mechanisms involved.
4. Validate efficacy of candidate EPF and botanicals in demonstration trials
5. Conduct risk assessments of products and strategies
6. Utilise data to determine socioeconomic benefits of products and strategies.

BIPESCO (Swansea University [SU; lead], Fera and Forest Research [FR]) have considerable experience in management of tree pests and development of new products and strategies to control them. SU has developed EPF and botanicals for pest control including the EPF Metarhizium anisopliae, which is effective in controlling pine weevil (PW) and black vine weevil. SU has identified several PW behaviour-modifying botanicals, and patented a PW attractant. SU will use its expertise to develop attractants and repellents for other pest species. Fera has experience working with emergent pest species such as oak processionary moth (a close relative of the pine processionary moth, PPM) and Asian longhorned beetle (ALB). Fera will evaluate EPF and botanicals provided by SU against PPM and ALB in state-of-the-art quarantine facilities. Together with SU, they will identify synergies between EPF and botanicals and elucidate how stressing compounds enhance EPF efficacy. FR has expertise in management and modelling of a range of forest pests and has developed systems that advise growers on when to use pesticides. Together with SU and Fera, FR will test selected products and strategies in forest systems. BIPESCO will also conduct risk assessments on products and strategies, and generate knowledge on their socio-economic benefits.

BIPESCO has the support of seven industry partners (Sentomol, Lisk & Jones, UPM, Maelor Nurseries, Neem Biotech, Fargro and Greenerpol), representing the supply chain. The support (worth £328,591) includes resources (e.g. materials, trial sites, labour) and advice, giving added value to the project.

BIPESCO's outputs (indicated in specific aims, above) will have considerable academic and commercial impact. They will benefit forestry, commercial nurseries, and local authorities (urban landscapes), and will lead to strong and on-going collaborations with pest control and related companies. The outputs will provide solutions to control of potential invasive pests such as ALB, in accord with the LWEC call. This project will provide products and strategies for a large and expanding pest control market currently worth $49 billion, but expected to reach $59 billion by 2016.

BIPESCO aims to develop novel and environmentally friendly pest control products and strategies to improve the management of native and non-native (invasive) pest insects.

The main objectives are to:
1. Build on previous work demonstrating effective control with EPF (M.anisopliae and B.bassiana) and establish the best strains of these two species against four target pest species: Asian longhorned beetle (ALB), pine processionary moth (PPM), pine weevil (PW]) and black vine weevil (BVW).
2. Use these EPF and a range of plant-derived botanicals to kill specific target pests both alone and in combination to determine effective synergies
3. Develop the role of these BCA in co-ordinated management strategies to reduce impacts of pest species by 'lure and kill' and 'stress and kill' approaches
4. Develop portable, cost-effective equipment for improved detection of target pests
5. Demonstrate applied field-based control of known pest species
6. Reduce the reliance on insecticides in pest control.

The main methods to be adopted are:
1. Field work and laboratory based quarantine screening of BCA will be used to determine virulence and stability against ALB, PPM, PW and BVW, and to elucidate why insects are more susceptible to infection.
2. Field trials will be established to test the two most promising strains against two native model insects in forest (PW) and nursery environments (BVW)
3. The efficacy of current monitoring traps will be enhanced using botanical attractants which will also concentrate populations for increased EPF infection
4. New prototype traps will be developed to improve trapping rates and thereby local pest monitoring and population control in collaboration with industry partners.
5. Field site management will also be used to manipulate and concentrate insect pest populations to enable improved local targeting with BCAs thereby also increasing efficiency and reducing costs.

Pest Control Of Insect Pests That Threaten Trees And Human Health (BIPESCO)
BIPESCO will develop entomopathogenic fungi and botanicals to control existing and emergent insect pests that are a problem in forests and tree nurseries, and those which are a threat to human health and the environment. Botanicals with attractant or repellent properties will be used alone or with fungi in novel "lure and kill" and "stress and kill" pest control strategies. In addition, BIPESCO will increase understanding of the underlying mechanisms for increased susceptibility of stressed insects to fungal infection and will influence future control strategies, in part because the agents can be used at reduced application rates and cost. The products and strategies developed within the project will offer an environmentally friendly, sustainable method of pest control in the short, medium and long term, benefiting many sectors both directly and indirectly.

Beneficiaries will include researchers, industry (biopesticide producers and users), government agencies, local authorities, public bodies, environmental groups and the general public. The forestry sector will benefit from having benign alternatives to chemicals that are being withdrawn for the control of pine weevil, the most destructive pest in conifer forests. Nurseries and the horticultural sector will benefit in having efficacious products and strategies for control of black vine weevil larvae in nursery stock. Pine processionary moth (PPM) and Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) pose major threats to UK pine and hardwoods, respectively. Benign control products and strategies for these pests would benefit countries where they are endemic but, should they enter the UK, as recently with ALB, could play a major role in their eradication. Effective control of PPM will benefit the forestry sector from economic losses and also forest users (workers and tourists) at risk from urticating hairs released by the larvae and harmful to human health. ALB has a wide host range and, if unchecked, would have a profound impact on urban landscapes (e.g. horsechestnut, cherry, plane, elm, poplar, maple), biofuel crops (e.g. willow), natural and managed woodlands (e.g. ash, beech, birch, alder) which, in turn, would impact on the wildlife in those ecosystems. Botanicals offer a relatively inexpensive method of killing pests inside galleries so could be used to treat suspect infested wood.

BIPESCO will add to the diminishing arsenal of products for pest control and enable growers to comply with EU legislation (EC Regulation 1107/2009 & Directive 2009/128/EC) that oblige member states to implement principles of integrated pest management (IPM) with priority to be given to benign, non-chemical methods of pest control. BIPESCO products and IPM strategies address this legislation and will increase the competitiveness of UK enterprises in strategic areas of pest control. BIPESCO products are safer than conventional pesticides and will protect and benefit the general public and wildlife. Other benefits to stakeholders include: helping foresters comply with Forest Stewardship Council's certification scheme, creating wealth and jobs in important bioscience sectors (knowledge based economy), and ensuring sustained collaboration between the industry and non-industry partners. Other companies in the supply chain (non-participants) will also benefit (e.g. producers of botanicals, biodegradable polymers for controlled release of attractants/repellents). BIPESCO focuses on pests which are of major socio-economic importance. The outputs will benefit the UK and many significant overseas markets through the development by the project consortium of fungal and botanical based products, focussing on the gap in the market for safe alternatives. These products will also create the opportunity to target several market sectors (multiple income streams) reflected by several companies and government agencies participating in the project.