A NEW international study to find eco-friendly pesticides which only target insects that damage crops is being led in Scotland.

Scientists at Glasgow University are heading-up an international collaboration to find treatments which will make creatures such as locusts, aphids and flies less destructive.

A new European grant worth 7m Euros is being ploughed into the research, which is looking at turning the insects own hormones against them to alter their behaviour or physiology.

Professor Shireen Davies, of the Institute of Molecular, Cell & Systems Biology at the University of Glasgow who is coordinating the project, said: "Insects are the most diverse class of life on earth, and different insects can be essential for, or highly damaging to, agriculture, horticulture and forestry.

"There is a pressing need, not just for new insecticides to combat resistance in pests, but for more specific, 'greener' insecticides that target damaging insects while sparing beneficial ones."

Professor Julian Dow, who is also working on the project in Glasgow, said climate change had driven the spread of pest insects to parts of the world where they would not usually be found.

Professor Julian Dow, who is also working on the project at Glasgow, said: "A big reason for the emergence of pest insects is climate change which is driving the spread of 'alien' pests to parts of the world where they wouldn't normally be found.

"We must also remember that, in many ways, these insects are only a major problem because of the way we farm.

"Until recently the default position was to simply obliterate the insects with pesticides. Now we are more focused on reducing the population of pests which we mustn't forget have their own place in the eco-system.

"Neuropeptide-based insect control agents should be greener than current pesticides and may not cause resistance in insects."

Biological threats such as insects and disease account for around 40% of all crop losses globally and by 2017 the world is expected to spend more than $65 billion annually on pesticides.