The General Principals of 



Biological Pest Control 



Michael S. Cherim 



STARTING OUT 

 In any biological pest control (BPC) program, 

 there exists a dramatic learning curve. And, as 

 in all new ventures, time should be given to learning 

 and understanding the concepts and idiosyncracies 

 surrounding it. As a rule, if you're new to BPC, 

 never make the transition, committing your entire 

 operation, all at once. It's best to make a dedicated 

 transition of one section at a time (5-25% of your op- 

 eration perhaps, depending on its size, the crop be- 

 ing raised, and of course, your own tolerance). When 

 you feel comfortable with the control obtained in 

 that section and with the knowledge you've gained, 

 move on to another, and so on, until the entire op- 

 eration is converted. When this happens, you'll not 

 only have bettered the environment — you'll be sav- 

 ing some money. 



THE TOOLS 



When using predators and parasites, 

 it is best not to use chemical pesti- 

 cides. This doesn't mean that your 

 hands are tied, though. After all, 

 you have several non-chemica 

 weapons, which work well with the 

 various organisms, at your disposal. 

 Such weapons include, but are not 

 limited to, traps (including "trap"- 

 or- "catch-crops" and items such as 

 sticky traps), lures (for both good 

 and bad bugs), barriers (environmental, cultural and 

 physical), bacteria, microbes, pathogens, insecticidal 

 soap and horticultural oil (if carefully applied), vacu- 

 uming (good for whitefly adults), and even hand- 

 picking (while not practical on the large scale, can 

 be accomplished on the small scale when monitoring 

 or scouting. After all, any pest you kill is a pest 

 which will cause no further damage or bear young). 



ANOTHER TOOL.. .BEING IN THE KNOW 

 You should become familiar with the identification of 

 bugs, good as well as bad. This is necessary when 

 monitoring. Getting a good hand lens, a IOx-30x, is 

 also highly recommended. You should also become 

 familiar with the life cycles of the bugs. The more 

 knowledge you have of your friends and foes, the 

 better able you'll be to cope with your situation. A 

 detailed identification guide — especially one that 

 covers BPC agents (beneficial insects) in great 

 detail — is highly recommended. Your local university 

 library or BPC agent supplier should be able to help 

 you locate such a publication. 



LETTING NATURE HELP 



As there are a lot more beneficial species of indig- 

 enous organisms than there are of pest species, pest 

 exclusion is not always recommended. It is, in many 

 cases, to your advantage to get rid of the screens 

 isolating your greenhouse from the rest of the worid. 

 As you know, the pests still get inside anyway, but 

 the good bugs usually don't. The beneficial species, 

 of which there are hundreds indigenous to your area, 

 usually have plenty of food sources outside, so it is 

 there that they stay. Natural control of pests is the 

 most effective there is, and when you have a green- 

 house which is open, as well as one with a less toxic 

 microenvironment, the good bugs will be eager to 

 come in and lend a hand. Additionally, the intro- 



duced BPC agents will stay longer, work harder 

 andestablish themselves more readily. This results in 

 fewer introductions of purchased beneficial species, 

 especially in the summer months, thus extending a 

 notable savings. 



THE HOW TO 



By far the best way to use BPC agents, as a general 

 rule, is to make repeated introductions of limited 

 quantities rather than hitting the area with massive 

 quantities in a onetime inoculation. Repeated re- 

 leases will result in a generational overlap. In other 

 words, you'll always have beneficials in various life 

 forms, some of which will be the form which is useful 

 to the agribusiness. It is also k[qh\\i recommended to 

 act as soon as possible after pests are noticed, or in 

 many cases, to act preventively. Normally, a BPC 

 agent supplier or insectary will require a certain 

 amount of lead time prior to shipping your order. In 

 most cases, a week's notice is necessary. 



Confmuerf on wex( paae 



lUNETlULY 1994 



