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Commercially Available Biocontrol Agents

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Commercially Available Biocontrol Agents 25th Year of Publication Volume XXV, Number 7/8, July/August 2003 Commercially Available Biological Control Agents By William Olkowski, Everett Photo courtesy of USDA Dietrick, Helga Olkowski and William Quarles s environmental effects of chemical pesticides are A becoming better understood, there is increasing pressure to replace the more toxic materials. In some cases, biological controls can help reduce, or sometimes replace, these toxic chemicals. Biocontrols are especially useful for crop produc- tion in greenhouses, and are well adapted to the needs of organic agri- culture. Biocontrols can be released in parks and landscapes to relieve pest pressures in municipal IPM pro- grams. Biocontrols also have a home in the backyard garden. The beneficial insects and mites produced by the biological control A Trichogramma sp. wasp is ovipositing inside the egg of a caterpillar. The industry can be divided into two developing parasitoid will prevent the pest caterpillar from developing. general groups: predators and para- sitoids. [Herbivorous weed biocon- parasitoids also feed directly on the are more selective than predators trol agents that are collected and pest organism through wounds and generally feed only on one sold commercially, microbials, and made when they insert their eggs, group, and often on only one devel- beneficial nematodes will be covered and so have two modes of killing opmental stage of the pest. For in future articles.] Predators such pests. example, Trichogramma miniwasps as the spined soldier bug, Podisus The most widely produced para- only attack the eggs of moths and maculiventris, minute pirate bug, sitoids are various Trichogramma butterflies. Because they have a Orius tristicolor, and the convergent species, which attack caterpillar more limited range of prey, and lady beetle, Hippodamia convergens, eggs. Whitefly parasitoids such as concentrate on a target pest, para- directly attack and consume imma- Encarsia species attack both the sitoids can in some cases be more ture and adult pest insects. late larval and pupal stages of the effective than predators. Parasitoids—usually tiny pest. Aphid parasitoids will lay eggs wasps—are more indirect, as they in adults, and fly parasitoids attack lay their eggs on or inside the pest. the pupal stages. In This Issue When the eggs hatch, the pest Predators and parasitoids are Commercially Available insect is eaten by the larval para- often further differentiated by their Biological Control Agents 1 sitoids. Some parasitoids attack feeding habits. Many predators only the adult stage of the pest, feed on a broad spectrum of pests. Conference Notes 10 while others attack either the egg, For instance, lacewings eat caterpil- Calendar 17 larval, or pupal stage. Some adult lars, aphids, and mites. Parasitoids Update Laboratory cultures of both The IPM Practitioner is published ten times Target Pests per year by the Bio-Integral Resource pests and natural enemies must Center (BIRC), a non-profit corporation The biocontrol industry produces periodically be renewed in order to undertaking research and education in inte- predators and parasitoids for sup- grated pest management. avoid deterioration of the genetic pressing aphids, mites, thrips, bee- stock. In addition, strict attention Managing Editor William Quarles tles, weevils, and caterpillars such must be paid to sanitation to pre- Contributing Editors Sheila Daar as cabbage looper, gypsy moth, dia- Tanya Drlik vent contamination of the various Laurie Swiadon mondback moth, pink bollworm, organisms used in mass-rearing Oriental fruit moth, and stored cultures. For example, if the Editor-at-Large Joel Grossman product moths. Parasitoids for mealybug parasitoid, Pauridia spp., Business Manager Jennifer Bates cockroaches, leafminers, mealybugs, contaminates the mealybug culture Artist Diane Kuhn flies, scales, whiteflies, and other used as food for predatory lady bee- For media kits or other advertising informa- pest species are also available. tles, too few mealybugs will survive tion, contact Bill Quarles at 510/524-2567. A complete list of biocontrol to sustain the lady beetles. organisms and their suppliers can Advisory Board George Bird, Michigan State Univ.; Sterling be found in the publication, Distribution of Beneficials Bunnell, M.D., Berkeley, CA ; Momei Chen, Directory of Least-Toxic Pest Control Jepson Herbarium, Univ. Calif., Berkeley; Products. This Directory is produced Natural enemies are generally Sharon Collman, Coop Extn., Wash. State each year by the Bio-Integral shipped directly from the insectary Univ.; Sheila Daar, Daar & Associates, for overnight delivery to the cus- Berkeley, CA; Walter Ebeling, UCLA, Emer.; Resource Center (BIRC). [To order Steve Frantz, NY State Dept. Health; Linda copies, contact BIRC, PO Box 7414, tomer or to a distributor who resells Gilkeson, Canadian Ministry of Envir., Berkeley, CA 94707; 510/524- them to clients. Live beneficial Victoria, BC; Joseph Hancock, Univ. Calif, insects are often packaged with an Berkeley; Helga Olkowski, Dietrick Inst., 2567, [email protected]]. Ventura, CA; William Olkowski, Dietrick Inst., alternate food source to insure the Ventura, CA; George Poinar, Oregon State Structure of the Industry beneficials do not starve should University, Corvallis, OR; Ron Prokopy, Univ. there be a delay in delivery or Massachusetts; Ramesh Chandra Saxena, In North America, beneficial ICIPE, Nairobi, Kenya; Ruth Troetschler, PTF release. The packaging also usually Press, Los Altos, CA; J.C. van Lenteren, insects and mites are raised by includes a cooling medium to pro- Agricultural University Wageningen, The about 30 relatively small independ- tect the beneficials against exces- Netherlands. ent companies and a division of the sive heat and to retard their devel- Manuscripts large corporation Syngenta. There is opment until released. The IPMP welcomes accounts of IPM for any pest situation. Write for details on format for an industry group called the Some kinds of parasitoids are manuscripts. Association of Natural Biocontrol sold as pupae glued on cards, Producers (ANBP) that represents which are hung on the foliage of the Citations The material here is protected by copyright, industrial interests and organizes crop. Other parasitoids are released and may not be reproduced in any form, meetings. In Europe, production as pupae mixed with sawdust that either written, electronic or otherwise without and distribution is dominated by written permission from BIRC. Contact is sprinkled into greenhouse pots. William Quarles at 510/524-2567 for proper two large corporations: Koppert and Still others are released as adults. publication credits and acknowledgement. Biobest. These corporations have Mites are either released mixed Subscriptions/Memberships distributors throughout the world with bran, which is sprinkled into A subscription to the IPMP is one of the ben- (see the BIRC Directory). greenhouse pots or the mites are efits of membership in BIRC. We also answer distributed on infested leaves that pest management questions for our members and help them search for information. How Beneficials are placed in the crop canopy. Most Memberships are $60/yr (institutions/ are Reared larger predators such as predatory libraries/businesses); $35/yr (individuals). bugs are sold and released as lar- Canadian subscribers add $15 postage. All In North America, beneficial other foreign subscribers add $25 airmail vae or adults that are dispersed by postage. A Dual membership, which includes insects and mites are generally hand over the crop canopy (van a combined subscription to both the IPMP raised on live hosts. Thus, insec- and the Common Sense Pest Control Driesche et al. 2003). Lacewings are Quarterly, costs $85/yr (institutions); $55/yr taries first grow a culture of the tar- applied as larvae or as eggs, and a (individuals). Government purchase orders get pest or a suitable substitute, mechanical applicator has been accepted. Donations to BIRC are tax- then use this host culture to feed deductible. developed to apply lacewing eggs FEI# 94-2554036. beneficials. In order to rear the (see IPMP 22(4):1-5) host, it is often necessary to grow Change of Address When writing to request a change of address, the plant that the pest attacks. For Trichogramma for please send a copy of a recent address label. example, potatoes are used to feed the Caterpillars © 2003 BIRC, PO Box 7414, Berkeley, CA citrus mealybug, Pseudococcus citri, 94707; (510) 524-2567; FAX (510) 524-1758. which in turn is used to feed predato- Tiny parasitic wasps in the All rights reserved. ISSN #0738-968X ry lady beetles, Cryptolaemus mon- genus Trichogramma are the most trouzieri. Tobacco plants are used to widely studied biological control feed the whiteflies that are utilized by agents in the world. These para- Encarsia formosa parasitoids. sitoids attack the eggs of caterpillar IPM Practitioner, XXV(7/8) July/August 2003 2 Box 7414, Berkeley, CA 94707 Update not be released in areas where T. plat- much larger than the grain moth neri occurs naturally, and vice-versa. eggs used in North America and In general, Trichogramma designated Europe. for use in mass rearing systems should Moth cocoons are collected from be collected in the field from their ulti- field sites, and adult moths are mate hosts. In North America and allowed to emerge after a period in Europe, parasitoids are reared on eggs of cold storage. Large sterile moth the Angoumois grain moth, Sitotroga eggs are taken from the unmated cerealella. A single Trichogramma females, dried, parasitized and wasp emerges from each host egg. placed in cold storage for later use. The moth itself is raised on wheat These rearing systems are briefly kernels. This mass production sys- reviewed in Olkowski and Zhang tem using an “unnatural” (facti- (1990). The large moth eggs used Tetrastichus galerucae attacks tious) host was developed by in China can produce 250 or more eggs of the elm leaf beetle. Flanders in 1926 (Essig 1931). parasitoids from a single egg, but Improvements on this system are 60 to 80 Trichogramma per egg are reviewed by Morrison and King more typical. Trichogramma reared pests such as corn earworms, corn (1977).
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