Advances in the use of pheromones for stored-product protection

Considerable progress has been made in the monitoring and control of stored-product pests, mainly Lepidoptera and Coleoptera, by pheromones, which are used in mass trapping, attracticide and mating disruption methods. In integrated pest management programmes of stored-product protection, the use of pheromones can lead to a reduction in chemical treatments, with economic advantages and the improvement of food-product quality. In this article, I report some promising results offering efficient detection and control of stored-product pests based on pheromones and line up a number of remaining questions to be answered to improve the reliability and competitiveness of the methods used.