Origanum majorana is a medicinal and aromatic plant that belongs to the Lamiaceae family. It is cultivated in several parts of the world and, due to its splendid aroma and taste, is widely used for culinary purposes and in perfumes. The essential oil of the plant, to which is attributed its aroma, contains many secondary metabolites with valuable biological activity. One of them is the pesticide activity, which has attracted much interest. Given the necessity of replacing synthetic pesticides, essential oils are studied in an attempt to find naturally derived products. Thus, the aim of this review paper is to discuss the chemical profile of O. majorana essential oil and to present data regarding its insecticidal, repellent and fumigant activity. Data were collected from 1992 to 2022. Databases, including PubMed, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect and Scopus, were used for the research, and keywords, including O. majorana, sweet marjoram, essential oil, volatiles, pesticide, insecticide and repellent activity, were used. The results of this review paper indicate that O. majorana essential oil can be an alternative agent to manage pests. However, still, much research should be conducted to evaluate its toxicity against beneficial insects and to ensure its safety for human health.

Science and food industry must strive to ensure and improve edible insect's benefits, and especially their safety and nutritional value. This study investigated how various food substrates used in the rearing of Tenebrio molitor larvae influence their growth, the safety of the larvae, and the nutritional quality of the resulting flour. The main findings indicate that all samples showed significant differences in their nutritional profile, larval characteristics, and heavy metal content. Regarding the content of protein, fat and fiber it ranges from 44.1 to 51.8 %, 28.6–34.8 % and 10.5–14.9 %, respectively. These results suggest that insect diet is a very crucial parameter that can affect all that factors and must be taken into account, especially when they are intended as raw materials to be used for food production.

Tuta absoluta is a notorious pest causing serious economic damages in tomato crops, worldwide. Macrolophus pygmaeus ( Mp ) and Nesidiocoris tenuis ( Nt ) are the most important natural enemies of this pest. However, their predation rates have been studied only in Petri dishes when T. absoluta eggs were placed randomly on a tomato leaflet. Our study aimed to compare Mp and Nt efficacy in locating and consuming T. absoluta eggs when offered at three densities (3, 5 and 8 eggs/dish) and four distribution patterns: i) the natural oviposition pattern (the one most frequently) followed by T. absoluta females ovipositing the respective egg number on a leaflet, ii) the linear pattern, by placing the eggs on the central vein, iii) the clumped pattern, placing them in a group and iv) the peripheral, placing them close to the leaflet edge. After 15´, 30´ and 60´ the number of consumed eggs was recorded. Results showed that both predators had similar prey searching efficiency when the eggs were positioned following the natural egg distribution pattern. However, when the eggs had been placed following the clumped pattern (at 3 and 5 egg density), Mp consumed more eggs than Nt 15΄ and 30΄ after their releasing. In addition, Mp consumed more eggs than Nt when placed following the linear egg distribution, 15΄ after predator releasing. Consequently, Mp showed higher adaptability in prey searching than Nt . These results indicate that Mp may be more efficient than Nt to locate and consume T. absoluta eggs when laid following different distribution patterns.