Olfactometers have been used for more than 100 years and are integral to experimental chemical ecology. Studies utilising olfactometer bioassays form the foundation for understanding the behavioural responses of invertebrates to chemical stimuli under standardised laboratory conditions. Widely used olfactometry apparatuses include two‐arm olfactometers for binary responses through to four‐ and six‐arm arenas to evaluate more complex behaviours. Despite its prevalence in chemical ecology studies, there has never been a review of experimental best practice in olfactometry. This review critically evaluates both olfactometry methods and applications as well as experimental design and analysis. We aim to outline a standard of good practice to improve experimental design and reporting for studies involving olfactometry, thereby establishing a reference guide to build a robust experimental workflow for olfactometry bioassays.

Bird nesting boxes are widely used to support cavity‐nesting birds but also function as accessible micro‐habitats for diverse arthropod communities. This study examined the arthropods inhabiting nesting boxes across eight woodland sites in England and Wales, with a focus on how community structure is influenced by bird nesting activity and whether it impacts breeding success in Ficedula hypoleuca (European Pied Flycatcher). Arthropods were sampled from 120 boxes using modified sticky traps (in unoccupied boxes) and NaCl flotation (in occupied nests). A total of 3634 specimens from 82 arthropod families were collected. Nest boxes with bird nests supported significantly higher arthropod abundance, richness and Shannon diversity than unoccupied boxes. Despite changes in community composition between occupied and unoccupied nesting boxes, no functional groups significantly predicted or impacted breeding outcomes. These findings highlight the overlooked conservation value of nest boxes for nidicolous arthropods and call for more frequent consideration of invertebrate communities in nest box design and management.

Western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis) are major pests of horticultural crops worldwide, creating a need for sensitive monitoring tools to support integrated pest management. Semiochemical lures are widely used to enhance sticky trap capture, but their effectiveness depends on both attractant composition and dispenser design. In this study, the plant-derived volatiles p-anisaldehyde (PANI) and S(−)-verbenone were evaluated as individual and blended attractants, together with the development of practical dispenser systems, across field trials conducted between 2018 and 2021 in commercial strawberry production systems. Initial short-term trials in 2018 showed that both compounds increased trap capture relative to controls, with the PANI–verbenone blend providing the greatest enhancement across repeated 48 h assessments. Follow-on trials in 2019 supported these findings and introduced ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) tubing as a controlled-release dispenser, improving lure practicality and durability without loss of efficacy. Expanded multi-site trials in 2021, conducted across four farms over four weeks, showed that although early capture dynamics were similar among treatments, differences emerged over time. By day 28, blended attractants, particularly when delivered via polymer-based dispensers, consistently exceeded controls and performed comparably to, or sometimes better than, the commercial standard Lurem-TR. These findings show that combining plant-derived volatile blends with optimised controlled-release dispensers can improve monitoring sensitivity for F. occidentalis under commercial growing conditions.

Progressive withdrawal of synthetic chemical insecticides and evidence of resistance in important pest species have led to increased interest in biological control within food manufacturing environments. However, the acceptability of these approaches to industry remains largely unknown. We conducted an exploratory qualitative study comprising semi‐structured interviews with 17 food manufacturing professionals associated with 15 focal facility contexts in northwest England and north Wales (UK). Sentiment analysis was used descriptively to characterise attitudinal valence, while reflexive thematic analysis examined conditional acceptability, perceived barriers and potential routes to implementation. Sentiment analysis classified 40.7% of participant utterances as positive, 40.3% as neutral and 19.0% as negative. Participant accounts showed that willingness to consider any of the approaches was usually conditional on locations, controls or approvals. Five principal barriers were identified: (1) food safety and quality concerns, (2) retailer requirements, (3) health and safety considerations, (4) resistance to novel approaches and (5) negative connotations associated with biological terminology. Participants identified controlled trials, formal risk assessment, stakeholder education and evidence of efficacy and cost‐effectiveness as potential facilitators. These findings do not estimate the prevalence of these views across the wider food manufacturing sector. Rather, they provide exploratory evidence that some experienced UK professionals would consider biological control when supported by appropriate authorisation, operational evidence, contamination controls and engagement with retailers and relevant assurance stakeholders.

Entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) can suppress aphid populations through biological control, but whether EPF‐associated volatile cues influence aphid behaviour remains poorly understood. We investigated the olfactory response of apterous Myzus persicae to Beauveria bassiana and to conspecifics infected with B. bassiana . Aphid responses were assessed using four‐arm olfactometer assays. In the first assay, aphids were exposed to B. bassiana ‐colonised agar, sterile agar and two blank‐air controls. In the second, aphids were exposed to odours from EPF‐infected conspecifics, healthy conspecifics, an agar control and a blank‐air control. Time spent within each odour field was converted to compositional proportions and analysed following centred log‐ratio transformation. Aphids showed no detectable olfactory response to B. bassiana ‐colonised agar alone. In contrast, aphids responded positively to odours associated with infected conspecifics, spending significantly more time in this odour field than in those containing healthy aphids, agar or blank air. These findings demonstrate that the behavioural response of M. persicae to EPF‐associated cues is context dependent, with cues generated during host infection appearing more salient than fungal odours presented in isolation. The results extend our understanding of pathogen‐mediated chemical communication in aphids and suggest that EPF infection may influence host–pathogen interactions and potentially pathogen transmission in ways that are not predicted by repellency‐based models alone.