The Special Issue 'Insect physical control: electric field-based pest management approach' was launched to showcase valuable new research on pest control using applied electrostatic engineering. Some phenomena generated in static and dynamic electric fields can be used to build new devices to capture or kill target insects using an attractive force or a force striking insects entering an electric field. This research field is new, and there are few researchers currently working within it. Consequently, this editorial introduces the history and general principles of electric field generation. I then discuss future directions for this field.
Keywords: arc discharge exposure; attractive force; dynamic electric field; electric field screen; practical implementation; static electric field.