Pestuk

International Pest Control – July/August 2025 – Vol 67, Nr.4
2025-08-07 14:55 UTC

Cover image: Cimex lectularius.
Picture by Dr Richard Naylor

It’s great to start an issue with good news – the approval of the first malaria medicine for newborns and young infants. It is astonishing to think that until now – 2025 – the protection of this vulnerable group has depended on formulations intended for older children (not without risk) and control of the vector: no vaccines are approved for this age group.

Agriculture’s contribution to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is not falling as fast as we need and although emission intensity has improved, overall emissions remain stubbornly high. Most striking is the huge contribution of ruminants which are the largest single element in all continents. This is largely due to the methane emissions of this group – difficult to see how this is addressed without a change in demand for ruminant products.

In “And Finally” I reveal my interest in all things related to the brewing and consumption of beer and this article on how rice-based worts can improve the taste of non-alcoholic beers points to a new market for rice – unfortunately another major source of agriculture’s GHG emissions.

Our “pest of the Issue” is the green bottle fly. Found worldwide this fly is a vector of multiple diseases and dangerous to both humans and livestock, our resident expert Alex Wade explains its lifecycle and control.

In Association News we cover Biological Control in Glasshouses (IBMA Spain), Pestworld 2025 (NPMA), the 11th ICUP, and the next annual New IPM symposium planned for the 8-9th September.

Company news includes the usual mix of acquisitions, mergers, and new products from Syngenta, Novartis, Koppert, Bayer, Biobest, Eurofins and Planet. Perhaps one of the most significant is the emergency authorisation of a new insecticide from Syngenta for the control of Hylobius abietis in Sitka spruce.

Our Special Feature on Pest Control in the Food and Hospitality Industry includes contributions from several companies and practitioners. Bed bugs are a popular subject for our contributors with three contributors covering early detection, humidity and the use of silica dust, and front-line control. Packaging matters are also covered, as are considerations for pest control in urban areas, and the new LED technology to replace the use of fluorescent lights which are on a path to being banned across Europe due to their mercury content. We finish with considerations regarding control in explosive atmospheres.

In Public Health we report on how male mosquitoes can avoid traps, while in Agriculture we look at how variety in wheat can affect the choices aphids make and how pest pressure can be reduced by varietal selection. Other topics covered in Agriculture include how fungi can weaken plant defences, and how advances in genetics mean we have a better understanding of the potato genome. We learn how plants modify their microbiome and the triggers that hatch potato parasites.

In Forestry and Plantation, we start a comprehensive series of three, possibly four articles by our in-house expert Dr Terry Mabbett on oak processionary moth – OPM. This pest is spreading across the UK having invaded from Europe. Some trees now have over 100 nests and the cost of bagging and incinerating the nests is a burden on local authorities, home and landowners. It is also a horrible job requiring full protective clothing to keep the irritant hairs at bay.

In our next issue our Special Feature is on Innovation in Pesticide Application, and we welcome contributions for this, and our other sections.

Chris Endacott, Editor International Pest Control magazine
editor@international-pest-control.com