Stimulo-deterrent diversion: A concept and its possible application to onion maggot control

Considerable basic information has been gathered on the interaction between the onion fly (Delia antiqua) and its host plant, the onion (Allium cepa). An attempt is underway to manipulate ovipositional behavior of this pest by treating onion seedlings with chemical deterrents while simultaneously providing deeply planted onion culls on which onion flies prefer to lay. This bipolar strategy of behavioral manipulation, termed "stimulo-deterrent diversion" (SDD), has the advantages of: (1) avoiding severe pest deprival and concomitant overriding of deterrents, (2) combining the effects of "push" and "pull" multiplicatively, and (3) providing opportunities for enhanced biological control in sites where the pest becomes concentrated. The suggestion is made that using SDD along with soil insecticide might relax or even reverse selection for physiological resistance ofD. antiqua to insecticides. As tools of molecular biology open new possibilities for manipulating plants and their allelochemicals, applied chemical ecologists should consider arranging situations where the allelochemicals have clear and adaptive messages for the pest. By combining toxins and deterrents at sites where feeding should be prevented, while simultaneously expediting use of alternative plants or plant parts, it might be possible to guide pest evolution toward paths of less conflict with human interest.