Researchers Identify Natural Plant Compounds That Work Against Insects

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Insect-specific growth regulators” are compounds that regulate the growth of insects. They represent attractive pest-control agents because they pose no health risk to humans and are also environmentally safe.

One hormone in insects, called juvenile hormone, is a particularly attractive target for insect growth regulators because this hormone, which plays a role in development, exists only in insects.

An international team of scientists, including Alexander Raikhel at the University of California, Riverside, has investigated in detail how juvenile hormone acts and has devised a method to prevent its working.

The researchers screened hundreds of plants and discovered potent compounds that counteract the action of juvenile hormone – a finding that could lead to the development of novel insecticides.  They also identified five compounds in two plants that are effective in causing mortality of yellow fever mosquito larvae, specifically by retarding ovary development.

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