Development of Pheromone-Receptor-Based Biosensors for the Early Detection of Pest Insects

Insects destroy approximately one third of the world's annual crop production. Their early detection enables the implementation of appropriate measures to prevent excessive infestation. Insects use species-specific chemical signals known as pheromones to communicate and attract their conspecifics. Interestingly, these pheromones are used to lure insects into traps for pest control purposes. Despite its effectiveness, this method is laborious and time-consuming as it requires frequent observations to identify and count the captures. As an alternative, the detection of pheromones is a promising solution for insect surveillance. In this context, we are developing biosensors based on pheromone receptors (PRs) immobilized on diamond-based capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUT) with the aim of achieving highly selective detection of pest insect pheromones.