Open research questions in Insect-Plant Interactions and Control

What the literature leaves open

• Future efforts to advance biocontrol should prioritize transdisciplinary integration, an approach that combines ecological research, technological innovation, policy reform, and capacity building to address multi-faceted challenges. 8.1.

  Biological Control of Insect Pests in Agroecosystems: Current Challenges, Innovative Strategies, and Future Directions · 2026 · DOI

• However, MYC2-mediated resistance mechanisms remain underexplored in Brassica, emphasizing the need for deeper functional characterization and translation into crop improvement. Although physical defenses and the glucosinolate–myrosinase system are well characterized, functionally validated insect resistance genes are still scarce, highlighting a critical knowledge gap.

  Deciphering Defense Mechanisms and Genetic Determinants of Insect Resistance in Brassica Species · 2026 · DOI

• Future research on rice insect resistance will face multiple challenges and opportunities. First, cloned resistance genes mainly target a few pests, such as the brown planthopper. Resistance genes targeting other major pests, like rice leaf roller and the black planthopper, are still rare, requiring ongoing discovery of new resistance genes from wild rice species and local varieties.

  Molecular Mechanisms of Insect Resistance in Rice and Their Application in Sustainable Pest Management · 2026 · DOI

• At the same time, important scientific and methodological gaps remain unresolved, including insufficient long-term ecological studies, lack of standardized resilience indicators, weak integration of climatic and ecological datasets, and limited research on continental and semi-arid orchard systems.

  Sustainable Mite Management in Apple Orchards Under Climatic Stress: Ecological Trade-Offs and System Challenges · 2026 · DOI

• Furthermore, linoleic acid (LA) showed larval toxicity and is suggested to function as a potential pro-toxin, although the metabolic conversion of LA into more active derivatives within the insect remains to be experimentally validated.

  Comparative proteomics provides Insights into activation of jasmonic acid-mediated resistance mechanism in chickpea–Helicoverpa armigera interaction · 2026 · DOI

• Now, the impact of these divergences on protein functionality remains to be addressed. However, interactions between BBXs and JA signaling and/or JAZ proteins remain poorly characterized.

  The transcriptional dynamics of TIFY/JAZ and BBX families in jasmonate signaling reveal SlBBX17 as a positive regulator of tomato defense · 2026 · DOI

• The study faced challenges in sampling arthropod assemblages in organic orchards and hedgerows, including the need for standardised active methods. The study also had to consider the complexity of the agricultural mosaic on Terceira Island, including endemic, native non-endemic, and introduced taxa.

  Arthropods communities in organic orchards and adjacent hedgerows on Terceira Island (Azores, Portugal): a dataset supporting biological control research · 2026 · DOI

• Future research should focus on addressing critical knowledge gaps that hinder effective and sustainable management of thrips in blueberry production systems. One key priority is the development of robust, species-specific economic thresholds that directly correlate thrips densities with crop injury and yield loss. These thresholds will provide more precise and economically sound decision-making tools for growers.

  Biology, Ecology, and Management of Prevalent Thrips Species (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) Impacting Blueberry Production in the Southeastern United States · 2025 · DOI

• While intraspecific variation among apple cultivars is well established as a driver of herbivore performance, its cascading influence on parasitoid effectiveness and reproductive success remains insufficiently explored.

  Bottom-Up and Top-Down Dynamics in the Management of Rosy Apple Aphid · 2025 · DOI

• The direct and indirect plant damage caused by B. tabaci has led to substantial economic losses in soybean crops. There is a need to assess the physiological consequences of whitefly infestations on soybean crops.

  Change in the Physiological Aspects of Soybean Caused by Infestation by Bemisia tabaci MEAM1 · 2024 · DOI

• The research highlights the need to consider regional specificities in pest management strategies.

  Assessing Panonychus ulmi (Acari: Tetranychidae) Infestations and Their Key Predators on Malus domestica Borkh in Varied Ecological Settings · 2024 · DOI

• Regional inventories are especially valuable in under-sampled areas where species distributions remain incompletely documented, and historical baseline data are lacking.

  Large Coccinellidae Collected in the Nebraska Panhandle Reveal High Diversity, Rare Species, and Undocumented Plant Associations · 2026 · DOI

• Future research should address: (i) the relative field contribution of phenolamides versus BXs under multi-pest conditions; (ii) the molecular target(s) of these phenolamides in the insect gut; (iii) their potential synergy with BXs; and (iv) the conservation of this module across other cereals.

  MYC2b-regulated tyramine-derived phenolamides in maize defense against Spodoptera frugiperda · 2026 · DOI

• Future research should focus on evaluating fluctuating temperature regimes, prestorage thermal acclimation, and commercial transport conditions to optimize practical storage protocols.

  Cold Storage of 1- to 5-Day-Old Mummies and Newly Emerged Adults of Aphelinus maculatus for Biological Control of Myzus persicae · 2026 · DOI

• Ecological intensification is globally promoted as a pathway toward sustainable agriculture, yet its multitrophic effects in organic field crops remain insufficiently understood.

  Vegetation diversification alters flying insect families in organic fields · 2026 · DOI

• The structural and functional reorganization of secretory cavities in Myrtaceae during gall development is poorly understood. The influence of gall complexity and biotic interactions on the changes in secretory cavities is not well understood. The relationship between gall-inducer identity and secretory cavity reorganization is not consistently observed across different host plant-gall inducer systems.

  Structural and histochemical plasticity of secretory cavities reflects distinct functional strategies in Eugenia galls · 2026 · DOI

• While the role of adult herbivores’ olfaction in mediating these tritrophic interactions has been investigated, the significance of caterpillar olfaction in tritrophic interactions of plants, herbivores, and their natural enemies has remained largely underexplored.

  Loss of olfaction reduces caterpillar performance and increases susceptibility to a natural enemy · 2025 · DOI

• Future aphid management is likely to rely increasingly on the integration of digital, molecular, and engineering approaches, shifting control strategies from reactive responses toward more predictive and targeted interventions.

  Aphid Management in Crop Systems: Current Strategies and Future Perspectives · 2026 · DOI

• However, direct evidence regarding how the glucosinolate content of plants affects the growth and development of aphids remains relatively scarce.

  The Effects of Six Brassica napus Cultivars on the Life Table Parameters of the Green Peach Aphid Myzus persicae (Sulzer) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) · 2025 · DOI

• Insecticide resistance contributes to population resurgence, and new insecticides are continually needed. The massive and repetitive application of synthetic insecticides has resulted in environmental pollution and threats to human health.

  Lethal and Sublethal Effects of Afidopyropen and Flonicamid on Life Parameters and Physiological Responses of the Tobacco Whitefly, Bemisia tabaci MEAM1 · 2024 · DOI

• Investigate the effect of other environmental factors on M. usitatus growth and development. Study the impact of M. usitatus on other crop plants. Develop strategies for managing M. usitatus populations on different host plants.

  An Age-Stage, Two-Sex Life Table for Megalurothrips usitatus Feeding on Eight Different Crop Plants · 2024 · DOI

• The function of JAZ proteins in poplar is not well understood, - The role of PtoJAZ10 in insect resistance is not clear, - The mechanisms by which PtoJAZ10 modulates insect resistance are not…

  Identification of the PtoJAZ gene family and functional validation of PtoJAZ10 in enhancing insect resistance in tobacco · 2026 · DOI

• Investigate the role of biotic interactions in shaping secretory cavity reorganization, - Examine the relationship between gall complexity and cavity modification in other plant…

  Structural and histochemical plasticity of secretory cavities reflects distinct functional strategies in Eugenia galls · 2026 · DOI

• Comparative research aimed at discerning infestation patterns and the rate of pest propagation in response to varying climatic conditions, - Studies on the dynamic behavior of mites on M.

  Assessing Panonychus ulmi (Acari: Tetranychidae) Infestations and Their Key Predators on Malus domestica Borkh in Varied Ecological Settings · 2024 · DOI

• Until now, no data existed to guide chemical control on hibiscus, despite its role as a high-risk reservoir and a major pathway for interstate movement.

  First Evaluation of Insecticide Efficacy Against the Invasive Two-Spot Cotton Leafhopper (Amrasca biguttula [Hemiptera: Cicadellidae]) on Ornamental Hibiscus in the United States · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Insect-Plant Interactions and Control

• Resource Availability and Plant Antiherbivore Defense · Science · 1985 · 2,970 citations
• The Role of Drought in Outbreaks of Plant-Eating Insects · BioScience · 1987 · 686 citations
• Integrated pest management: good intentions, hard realities. A review · Agronomy for Sustainable Development · 2021 · 662 citations
• Function and Mechanism of Jasmonic Acid in Plant Responses to Abiotic and Biotic Stresses · International Journal of Molecular Sciences · 2021 · 544 citations
• Indole is an essential herbivore-induced volatile priming signal in maize · Nature Communications · 2015 · 428 citations
• Role of jasmonic acid in plants: the molecular point of view · Plant Cell Reports · 2021 · 384 citations
• Sprayed to Death: Path Dependence, Lock-in and Pest Control Strategies · The Economic Journal · 1996 · 341 citations
• Spread and impact of fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda J.E. Smith) in maize production areas of Kenya · Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment · 2020 · 279 citations
• Whitefly hijacks a plant detoxification gene that neutralizes plant toxins · Cell · 2021 · 278 citations
• Plants as transmission channels for insect vibrational songs · Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology · 1982 · 267 citations

Most recent work

• Use of functional plants to enhance pest biological control in farming landscapes: progress and prospects · Entomologia Generalis · 2026
• Plant strategies against herbivorous insects · Journal of Integrative Plant Biology · 2026
• H2O2 sulfenylates GRF8 to facilitate jasmonate signaling by relieving MYC2 inhibition in Arabidopsis · Molecular Cell · 2026
• GhZAT11 triggers wound-activated bud growth by accelerating sugar transport and cell division · Nature Plants · 2026
• From laboratory to field: Performance and interaction dynamics of Telenomus remus and Trichogramma pretiosum for biological control of lepidopteran maize pests · Biological Control · 2026
• Jasmonates regulate drought resistance by controlling the secondary metabolism in wheat seedlings · BMC Plant Biology · 2026
• Biological Control of Insect Pests in Agroecosystems: Current Challenges, Innovative Strategies, and Future Directions · Agriculture · 2026
• Morphological Modification of the Mouthparts of Aphids (Hemiptera: Sternorryncha: Aphididae) · Insects · 2026
• Functional specialization of two jasmonic acid-amido synthetases in rice defense and spikelet development · The Plant Cell · 2026
• Drought × herbivory induce leaf trichomes in soybean with differential impact on its major herbivore soybean looper Chrysodeixis includens · Entomologia Generalis · 2026

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