Insects vastly outnumber us in terms of species and total biomass, and are among the most efficient and voracious consumers of plants on the planet. As a result, to preserve crops, one of the primary tasks in agriculture has always been the need to control and reduce the number of insect pests. The current use of chemical insecticides leads to the accumulation of xenobiotics in ecosystems and a decreased number of species in those ecosystems, including insects. Sustainable development of human society is impossible without useful insects, so the control of insect pests must be effective and selective at the same time. In this article, we show for the first time a natural way to regulate the number of insect pests based on the use of extracellular double-stranded DNA secreted by the plant Pittosporum tobira. Using a principle similar to one found in nature, we show that the topical application of artificially synthesized short antisense oligonucleotide insecticides (olinscides, DNA insecticides) is an effective and selective way to control the insect Coccus hesperidum. Using contact oligonucleotide insecticide Coccus-11 at a concentration of 100 ng/μL on C. hesperidum larvae resulted in a mortality of 95.59 ± 1.63% within 12 days. Green oligonucleotide insecticides, created by nature and later discovered by humans, demonstrate a new method to control insect pests that is beneficial and safe for macromolecular insect pest management.

Studies in the Crimea have shown that both on the southern coast and in the central foothill region, an adventive pest of plants of the genus Buxus - the boxwood fireweed (Cydalima perspectalis), develops in three generations. Caterpillars of the second - third instars hibernate; their emergence from diapause occurs in early April. The timing and duration of development of each of the three generations of the boxwood firefighter in the conditions of the Crimea were determined, the lifespan of the imago was determined, averaging about two weeks, with some individuals living for more than 20 days. The sex index in adults varies in different generations, depending on the living conditions. Thus, in the central foothill region in the first generation, the ratio of females and males reaches 2: 1, and in the second generation, both the proportion of males and melanistic individuals increases in comparison with typically colored butterflies. In each of the three generations, males emerged from pupae 3-5 days earlier than females. The fertility of melanistic females is higher than that of the typically colored. A spring-summer diapause was observed in caterpillars of II-III instars in the overwintered, first and second generations.

The results of field tests of different variants of synthetic pheromone blends and pheromone dispenser developed by the Department of synthesis and application of pheromones of the FSFI " All-Russia Plant Quarantine Center" for identification and monitoring boxwood moth is a dangerous invasive pest of boxwood in the Republic of the Crimea; the optimal material of the pheromone’s carrier is determined, the effective ratio and dosage are proposed.

The analysis of the modern process of phytophagous insect invasion on the South Coast of the Crimea showed that since the beginning of the active introduction of woody and shrubby plants of foreign breeding for the 18-year period from 2002 to 2020. Fifteen harmful species previously unregistered in the region have been identified. Since 2008, one or two new species have been identified annually, which has led to significant changes in the taxonomic structure of the phytophagous complex in the parks of the South Coast of the Crimea. Invasive phytophages are represented by five orders, of which 26.4% are species of the order Homoptera, 19.8% are species of the orders Lepidoptera, Coleoptera and Hymenoptera, 14.2% are phytophages of the order Diptera. It is established that nine species are monophages, three species are oligophages, and three species are polyphages. Icerya purchasi Mask., Cydalima perspectalis Walker, Ceroplastes japonicus Green, Chrysolina аmericana L., Cameraria ohridella Deschka&Dimic, Bactrocera oleae Rossi and Paysandisia archon Burmeister are the greatest threat to plantings. The terms of detection and the area on the territory of the Crimea, the range of forage plants, the degree of harmfulness, the frequency of occurrence is established, and data on the phenology of the most important species are presented.