Introduction The necessity of ever increasing agricultural production has induced farmers to use insecticides to improve yields and profits. The current agricultural mode of production is therefore based on intensive use of insecticides in order to ensure the high productivity by eliminating pests and diseases. Otherwise, others xenobiotics are often used as fertilizer to replace nutrients carried out in agroecosystems.
However, in many places, the indiscriminate, prolonged and inappropriate use of these xenobiotics has been affecting the ecosystem and farmers health.
Concerning insecticides on agroecosystems, the frequent applications can often cause pest resurgence, environmental pollution and human intoxications, eliminate beneficial insects and enables the emergence of the phenomenon of pest resistance. Under this scenario, the search for other control methods aiming to decrease insecticides use, consequently reducing environmental pollution, the ecological imbalance and human intoxications is required.
For this purpose, the understanding of the relationship between the various living organisms in the agroecosystems is essential to provide effective pest control. Living organisms present in the fields of production and its surroundings areas feature between them relationships for survival and preservation.
In the specific case of insects, the study of chemical ecology focusing on the intra-and interspecific processes of choice and location of partners, hosts, food sources and shelter have had an important role in the pursuit of a sustainable agriculture.
