Jeffrey’s Reviews > Silent Spring > Status Update

Give the pest insect a disease with bacteria! Or their toxin.
As long as the disease is very specific and doesn’t cause disease in humans or other animals

But if bio warfare using the pest insects predator these are not as specific as bacteria have to really study both pest and pest predator

Control population with
Anti metabolites
Alkylators
(These are chemotherapeutics we use)

Mimic sex attractants, painted on inanimate objects and the gypsy moth will try to mate with it

What about using natures sound to attract and repel?

Seems Like you need to know at a minimum:
Population size
Seasonality
Life cycle details
What it eats - if eradicated , what population will explode lacking a predator
What eats it - if eradicated what will starve
If eradicated, what will take its place?

Alternatives
Release sterile male insects - eventually the population breeds itself out of existence
Sterilized by radiation or chemical means;
An alternative to releasing pretreated males, is using baits with chemicals the sterilize the native population eventually leading to collapse of the population; obviously needs a lot of study

Chemical controls are self defeating.
The natural community evolves and wins

Ch 14
Talking about Warburg, i remember reading about the warburg effect in graduate school; also they make the point of why low doses of carcinogens can be more deadly then large doses - the small doses apply a selective pressure for cells with altered physiology (eg using fermentation rather respiration) this the population shifts to increasingly self sufficiency

Remarkably good elementary description of cell division and rudimentary understanding of mutagenesis - apparently doc / scientists of the times were not convinced chemicals could be mutagens like radiation

Pesticides effect on the insects, then non intended insects, then concentrated in stream and water sources , kills fish , entire ecosystem is affected
Heptachlor - 20x DDT
Dieldrin - 120x DDT

The ripple effect of insecticides thru the food chain and prompt failure once spraying is interrupted.
At the same time introduction of predator to control the insect population can have unintended consequences.
Takes a deep understanding to control nature, can it ever be done?