particular, various alternative methods of plant protection such as the use of transgenic
plants, biological control of pests, diseases and weeds, agro-technical method, etc. are
of great importance.
According to the data of 1980, in Ukraine the pesticide load per one hectare of
arable land and perennial plantations amounted to 2.04 kg of active substance and the
pesticides only in agrarian production were used annually for the amount of about 342
million USA dollars. At present the volumes of pesticides sales in the country amount
to only 150-170 million dollars per year, and in general the level of their use for plant
protection is 20-30% of the minimum requirement. There is an extremely
unsatisfactory provision of grain crops and sugar beets with chemical means of
protection, in particular with the insecticides, which leads to significant losses of crop
yields and deterioration of its quality. In this situation it is important to maximize the
possibilities of existing methods and measures for the protection of plants, and, first of
all it should be the organizational and economic, agro-technical, biological, and other
methods of protection.
The great importance in the construction of ecologically-oriented and integrated
systems for protecting crops from pests belongs to agricultural entomology [16].
Entomology (from the Greek words entomon- insect and logos – study) is the science
about insects. In the XVIIIth centuries it was singled out from Zoology as a separate branch of
knowledge. According to the diverse values of insects in nature and human activity, now this
science is divided into a number of disciplines which task is to develop scientific methods for
protecting plants, humans and animals from harmful insects [13, 16].
The main task of agricultural entomology is to protect plants in order to reduce or
prevent crops losses because of harmful animal organisms, especially insects, both
during the growing season and during storage. The nature of the damage and the size
of the yield shortage are connected not only with the behavior of the pests, but also
with the corresponding reaction of the plant to the damage caused by its varietal
characteristics, conditions of management, etc.
The history of agricultural entomology development in Ukraine. The varieties
of physical and geographic conditions, as well as the large set of cultivated crops and
natural vegetation determine the number of insects that damage the crops, gardens,
forests and field protecting forest shelter-belts. More than 3000 species of insects,
damaging useful plants are registered in the territory of Ukraine. Among them 680
species cause significant damage, 480 species are pests of agricultural crops and 200
species cause damage to forest plantations [13, 16].
The massive reproduction of insect pests has been observed in Ukraine since 1008
AD (webworm beetle in 1686 and winter moth in 1814). The massive proliferation of
insect pests has always been a surprise to the farmers. The need to find measures to
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