Spinosad: a revolutionary change for IPM The goal of IPM is to manage pests in a cropping system using the biology of the pests, their natural enemies, and the crop environment. Multiple control tactics should be considered such as biological, chemical, cultural, and mechanical control. The challenge with chemical control is that highly effective but broad-spectrum insecticides control pest populations but can also affect populations of beneficials. If natural enemies are controlled, rebounds of pest populations and outbreaks of secondary pests can occur. Insecticides widely available in the 1990s were generally fast and effective but broad spectrum and damaging to beneficial arthropods. Spinosad was discovered in the early 1980s as part of a global screening program for soil-borne bioactive organisms. Subsequent development showed high levels of efficacy against various Lepidopteran species, but limited activity against many other orders. This limited spectrum had a positive feature in that spinosad was also not very effective against beneficial arthropods. The development team led, by Dr. Gary Thompson, saw the opportunity to develop a product with a strong fit aiding adoption of true IPM. Commercialization of spinosad-based insecticides provided an opportunity to selectively target pests using a treatment threshold without eliminating natural enemies. Twenty-five years later the discovery and development of this IPM tool and forward-thinking resistance management initiatives, spurred to a large degree by Gary Thompson, led the way for a new generation of insect management tools that have allowed IPM to be utilized to full potential.
