Chapter 13
Insect Pathogenic Viruses, Microsporidians
and Endosymbionts
Mohammad Mehrabadi, Reyhaneh Darsouei, and Javad Karimi
13.1 Entomopathogenic Virus
13.1.1 Introduction
Annually, herbivorous insect pests are responsible for destroying one-fifth of the
total crop production in the world. Therefore, insect pests are a major challenge for
food security and provision of food, particularly in developing countries with a rapid
annual increase in the human population (2.5–3.0%) compared with a lower rate of
increase (1.0%) in food production. Chemical insecticides are often used to control
insect pests. However, due to potential risks for human health and environment,
adverse effects on non-target organisms, and a significant risk to biodiversity
worldwide, their use is gradually becoming more and more restricted (Geiger et al.
2010; Beketov et al. 2013). Therefore, it is necessary to seek safer alternatives to
pesticides. To minimize the adverse effects of chemical pesticides, several
approaches have been employed including microbial control (Lacey et al. 2001;
2015). In contrast to chemical pesticides that have shown decline on the global
market, microbial pesticides have shown long term growth over the past decade;
however much of the global market is still dominated by chemical pesticides (Grant
et al. 2010).
M. Mehrabadi (*)
Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
e-mail: m.mehrabadi@modares.ac.ir
R. Darsouei
Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad,
Mashhad, Iran
J. Karimi
Department of Plant Protection, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
e-mail: jkb@um.ac.ir
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
J. Karimi, H. Madadi (eds.), Biological Control of Insect and Mite Pests in Iran,
Progress in Biological Control 18, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63990-7_13
505
Insect Pathogenic Viruses, Microsporidians
and Endosymbionts
Mohammad Mehrabadi, Reyhaneh Darsouei, and Javad Karimi
13.1 Entomopathogenic Virus
13.1.1 Introduction
Annually, herbivorous insect pests are responsible for destroying one-fifth of the
total crop production in the world. Therefore, insect pests are a major challenge for
food security and provision of food, particularly in developing countries with a rapid
annual increase in the human population (2.5–3.0%) compared with a lower rate of
increase (1.0%) in food production. Chemical insecticides are often used to control
insect pests. However, due to potential risks for human health and environment,
adverse effects on non-target organisms, and a significant risk to biodiversity
worldwide, their use is gradually becoming more and more restricted (Geiger et al.
2010; Beketov et al. 2013). Therefore, it is necessary to seek safer alternatives to
pesticides. To minimize the adverse effects of chemical pesticides, several
approaches have been employed including microbial control (Lacey et al. 2001;
2015). In contrast to chemical pesticides that have shown decline on the global
market, microbial pesticides have shown long term growth over the past decade;
however much of the global market is still dominated by chemical pesticides (Grant
et al. 2010).
M. Mehrabadi (*)
Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
e-mail: m.mehrabadi@modares.ac.ir
R. Darsouei
Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad,
Mashhad, Iran
J. Karimi
Department of Plant Protection, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
e-mail: jkb@um.ac.ir
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
J. Karimi, H. Madadi (eds.), Biological Control of Insect and Mite Pests in Iran,
Progress in Biological Control 18, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63990-7_13
505