Applied Chemical Ecology

Chemical ecology is the study of the role that chemicals play mediating interactions between organisms and organisms and their environment, and the consequences of those interactions in ecological and evolutionary time.  It is not an autonomous discipline but rather an approach to ecology, one of viewing ecological interactions through a chemical lens.  Consequently it is highly interdisciplinary, commonly involving behavior, ecology, genomics, physiology, biochemistry, chemistry and neurobiology.  Olfaction is the dominant modality for how most insects perceive and interact with the biotic world and consequently the study of insect chemical ecology has immense potential to inform our understanding of the natural world.  In addition to its heuristic value, this understanding has potential to provide powerful tools for the management of pests. 

Our research interests lie at the interface of behavioral chemical ecology and pest management.  The primary focus of our work is the development of an understanding of the chemical ecology of insect pests of plantation forests and agricultural tree crops in the southern hemisphere.  By using pest species as model systems we are able to simultaneously make discoveries that advance our understanding of the natural world and provide biorational pest management tools to stakeholders.  Specific ongoing projects include the development and optimization of survey and detection tools, characterization of the active space of semiochemical-baited traps and the biotic and abiotic factors that influence it, the impact of chemical ecology on the efficacy of biological control, the chemical ecology of insect pests of plantation and fruit and nut trees and the causes and consequences of variation in insect sex pheromones.

If any of these topics or related ones interest you please contact us.  We are always looking for talented graduate students, postdocs and collaborators.

 

New Publications

Wychkuys KA, Giron E, Hyman G, Barona E, Castro-Llanos FA, Sheil D, Yu L, Du Z, Hurley BP, Slippers B, Germishuizen I, Bojacá CR, Rubiano M, Sathyapala S, Verchot L, Zhang W. (2025) Biological control protects carbon sequestration capacity of plantation forests. Entomologia Generalis 10.1127/entomologia/2025/3015 PDF
Coertze S, Visagie CM, Rose L, Slippers B, Mostert D, Makhura T, de Villiers D, Basson E, Coetzee B, Read D. (2025) First report of Clavibacter nebraskensis, causing Goss’s bacterial leaf blight on maize (Zea mays L.) in South Africa. Plant Disease 10.1094/PDIS-01-25-0164-PDN PDF
Stazione L, Corley JC, Allison JD, Hurley BP, Lawson SA, Lantschner MV. (2025) Novel associations among insect herbivores and trees: Patterns of occurrence and damage on pines and eucalypts. Ecological Applications 35:e70018. 10.1002/eap.70018
Townsend G, Hill M, Hurley BP, Roets F. (2025) Escalating threat: increasing impact of the polyphagous shot hole borer beetle, Euwallacea fornicatus, in nearly all major South African forest types. Biological Invasions 27 10.1007/s10530-025-03551-2 PDF
Wondafrash M, Wingfield MJ, Hurley BP, Slippers B, Mutitu EK, Jenya H, Paap T. (2025) DNA sequence data confirms the presence of two closely related cypress-feeding aphid species on African cypress (Widdringtonia spp.) in South Africa. Southern Forests 86:278-285. 10.2989/20702620.2024.2390863 PDF
Martin G, Canavan K, Chikowore G, Bugan R, De Lange W, du Toit B, Harding G, Heath R, Hill M, Hurley BP, Ivey P, Muir D, Musedeli J, Richardson DM, Slippers B, Stafford L, Turner A, Watson K, van Wilgen BW. (2025) Managing wilding pines in the Cape Floristic Region, South Africa: Progress and prospects. South African Journal of Botany 177:377-391. 10.1016/j.sajb.2024.12.011 PDF
Goundar P, Slippers B, Hurley BP, Lawson SA. 2025. Classical biological control of bark and wood borers in Pinus plantations. In: Biological Control of Insect Pests in Plantation Forests. Hurley BP, Lawson SA, Slippers B. (eds). Springer, Cham, Switzerland, pp 321-338.
Hurley BP, Slippers B, Lawson SA. 2025. Biological control in plantation forests: trends and opportunities. In: Biological Control of Insect Pests in Plantation Forests. Hurley BP, Lawson SA, Slippers B. (eds). Springer, Cham, Switzerland, pp 3-18.
Slippers B, Fitza KNE, Garnas JR. 2025. Genetic diversity should be considered in biological control programmes in plantation forestry. In: Biological Control of Insect Pests in Plantation Forests. Hurley BP, Lawson SA, Slippers B. (eds). Springer, Cham, Switzerland, pp 71-94.
Wondafrash M, Slippers B, Hurley BP. 2025. Accidental introductions of natural enemies in plantation forests. In: Biological Control of Insect Pests in Plantation Forests. Hurley BP, Lawson SA, Slippers B. (eds). Springer, Cham, Switzerland, pp 161-190.
Knoppersen R, Hammerbacher A, Bose T. (2024) Fungal Planet description sheets: 1697–1780 (Description of Sporisorium enterogonipteri). Fungal Systematics and Evolution 14:325–577. 10.3114/fuse.2024.14.19
Nkomo T, Bose T, Wingfield BD, Knoppersen R, Mbhele O, Nemesio‐Gorriz M, Rodas CA, Paetz C, Cilliers CT, Ferreira MA, Hammerbacher A. (2024) Geographic location shapes fungal communities associated with Epidendrum roots. Mycological Progress 23:54. 10.1007/s11557-024-01990-0
Ribeiro MF, Cavallini G, Solce GN, Favoreto AL, Passos JRDS, Hurley BP, Wilcken CF. (2024) Polyandry contributes to Gonipterus platensis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) rearing. PeerJ 12:e17929. 10.7717/peerj.17929
Visagie CM, Yilmaz N, Allison JD, Barreto RW, Boekhout T, Boers J, Delgado MA, Dewing C, Fitza KNE, Furtado ECA, Gaya E, Hill R, Hobden A, Hu DM, Hülsewig T, Khonsanit A, Luangsa-Ard JJ, Mthembu A, Pereira CM, Price J-L, Pringle A, Qikani N, Sandoval-Denis M, Shumacher RK, Seifert KA, Slippers B, Tennakoon DS, Thanakitpipattana D, vanVuuren N, Groenewald JZ, Crous PW. (2024) New and Interesting Fungi. 7.. Fungal Systematics and Evolution 13:441–494. 10.3114/fuse.2024.13.12 PDF
Fitza KNE, Allison J, Slippers B, Chingandu N, Reed SE. (2024) Diversity and potential sources of introduction of the Beech leaf nematode (Litylenchus crenatae< mccannii) to Ontario, Canada. Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology
Pham NQ, Wingfield MJ, Marincowitz S, Tanga AA, Tiki KR, Kassie WB, Hurley BP, Germishuizen I, Lawson SA, Healey MA, Wondafrash M. (2024) First report of the wattle rust pathogen, Uromycladium acaciae (Raveneliaceae, Pucciniales) in Ethiopia. Forestry: An International Journal of Forest Research :1–8. 10.1093/forestry/cpad040 PDF
Hurley BP, Buglyó I, Horváth K, Winkler-Ráthonyi N, Sathyapala S. 2024. Forest pest contingency plan guidelines for Europe and Central Asia. FAO: Budapest.
Rakubu IL, Katumanyane A, Hurley BP. (2023) Host-foraging strategies of five local entomopathogenic nematode species in South Africa. Crop Protection 176:106525. 10.1016/j.cropro.2023.106525
Rakubu IL, Katumanyane A, Hurley BP. (2023) Screening five local entomopathogenic nematode species for their virulence against pupae of the Eucalyptus snout beetle, Gonipterus sp. n. 2, under laboratory conditions . Crop Protection 176:106500. 10.1016/j.cropro.2023.106500
Katumanyane A, Slippers B, Wondafrash M, Malan AP, Hurley BP. (2023) Mechanisms behind differential white grub host susceptibility to entomopathogenic nematodes. Nematology 10.1163/15685411-bja10253
Solís M, Hammerbacher A, Wingfield MJ, Naidoo S. (2023) A robust disease scoring method to screen Eucalyptus for resistance against the aggressive leaf blight pathogen, Teratosphaeria destructans. Plant Disease:1418 - 1424. 10.1094/PDIS-06-22-1347-RE PDF
Pal E, Allison JD, Hurley BP, Slippers B, Fourie G. (2023) Life History Traits of the Pentatomidae (Hemiptera) for the Development of Pest Management Tools. Forests 14(5) 10.3390/ f14050861 PDF
Katumanyane A, Slippers B, Wondafrash M, Malan AP, Hurley BP. (2023) Susceptibility of white grubs from forestry and sugarcane plantations in South Africa to entomopathogenic nematodes. BioControl 10.1007/s10526-023-10185-7
Luki-Marie Scheepers, Jeremy D. Allison, Bernard Slippers, Egmont R. Rohwer, Patrick M. Mc Millan, Jan E. Bello. (2023) Pine Emperor moths from KwaZulu-Natal use the same pheromone component previously isolated from Nudaurelia cytherea (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) from the Western Cape. African Entomology 31((2023)):1-9. 10.17159/2254-8854/2023/a13231
Bose T, Dovey S, Brachmann A, Witfeld F, Begerow D, Kemler M, Roux J, Slippers B, Vivas M, Wingfield MJ. (2023) Retention of post-harvest residues enhances soil fungal biodiversity in Eucalyptus plantations. Forest Ecology and Management 532:120806. 10.1016/j.foreco.2023.120806
Bose T, Hammerbacher A. (2023) The first report of Phytophthora multivesiculata causing black rot of Cymbidium and Ansellia africana from South Africa. Plant Disease 10.1094/PDIS-03-22-0623-PDN
Hurley BP, Dittrich-Schröder G, Gevers C. 2023. Gall Formers. In: Forest Entomology and Pathology Vol.1. Allison JD, Paine TD, Slippers B, Wingfield MJ. (eds). Springer, Cham, Switzerland, pp 457-494. PDF
Hurley BP, Barnes I, Wingfield MJ. 2023. Diseases and Insect Pests of Australian Acacia Species. In: Wattles: Australian Acacia Species Around the World. Richardson DM, Le Roux JJ, Marchante E. (eds). CAB International, Oxfordshire, pp 312-326.
Kandasamy D, Zaman R, Nakamura Y, Zhao T, Hartmann H, Andersson MN, Hammerbacher A, Gershenzon J. (2023) Conifer-killing bark beetles locate fungal symbionts by detecting volatile fungal metabolites of host tree resin monoterpenes. PLoS biology 21(2):e3001887.
Pal E, Fourie G. (2023) Evaluation of the lethal and sublethal effects of various insecticides on Bathycoelia distincta (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae). SAMAC journal :51-53.