What is it about?
Insects are essential to our world. They pollinate crops, recycle nutrients, control pests, and support healthy ecosystems. But many insect populations are shrinking quickly due to farming practices and environmental changes. This article explains how the science of entomology—studying and managing insects—can help society build a more sustainable future. Examples include reducing pesticide use through smarter farming, using insects as sustainable protein for people and animals, and even finding new ways insects may help tackle problems like pollution and climate change. Entomologists are working to protect insect diversity and share knowledge so communities, farmers, and policymakers can make choices that support both people and the planet.
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Photo by Trisha Downing on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Entomology isn’t just about insects—it’s a key to solving global sustainability challenges. From cutting pesticide use to creating sustainable protein and even reducing climate impacts, this article shows how insect science offers timely, practical solutions for a healthier planet.
Perspectives
I was honored to be invited to contribute to this feature article and to share the tremendous success of our cotton IPM program in Arizona. Over the past three decades, this program has transformed pest management by reducing insecticide use more than a hundred-fold. Those reductions carry obvious economic benefits—no grower wants to spend more on pesticides than necessary—but the deeper story is about breaking dependence on broad-spectrum, non-selective control strategies. Integrated Pest Management is not just about using fewer sprays. It’s about building eco-efficient systems where everything we produce is safer—safer for people, safer for the environment, and safer for the economy. Our Arizona cotton system has become a model for how entomology-driven pest management can reduce risks of all kinds while still protecting grower interests. As I see it, the next generation of pest management may not be measured by how much further we can reduce insecticide use—already at historic lows—but by how much more selective, eco-efficient, and sustainable our systems can become. Nested within this broader article on entomology’s role in sustainability, the Arizona IPM story illustrates how insect science is driving real change, and how these lessons can guide production systems around the world toward a safer, more sustainable future.
Professor Peter C Ellsworth
University of Arizona
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Entomology's Role in the Science of Sustainability, American Entomologist, January 2025, Oxford University Press (OUP),
DOI: 10.1093/ae/tmaf045.
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