Instead of supplementing nat- 
ural enemies when they prove in- 
adequate, chemical insecticides — 
through their inherent ecological 
crudeness and their use patterns 
— have been essentially antago- 
nistic to biological control. 
Ecological Myopia 
This is what has triggered so 
many of the problems. It is eco- 
logical myopia of the same tragic 
sort that permitted destruction of 
the prairies, devastation of the 
forests, fouling of the waters, dec- 
imation of wildlife, and all the 
other gross ecological stupidities 
we have committed. 
The modern insecticide is dan- 
gerous because nowhere in_ its 
synthesis, development, and utili- 
zation is serious consideration 
given to the ecological nature of 
pest conrtol. This is particualrly 
true of the insect communities to 
which insecticides are applied. The 
materials are devised to kill the 
widest possible pest insect spectra 
and thereby capture the widest 
possible markets. In practice this 
is the way they are used — the 
agro-ecosystem be damned! 
Let us get better acquainted, 
then, with biological control. Bio- 
logical control is a natural phen- 
omenon — the regulation of plant 
and animal numbers by their nat- 
ural enemies. Biological control is 
a major component of those forces 
of nature which keep all living - 
creatures in a state of balance. 
To gain some insight into the 
frightening prospect of uninhibited 
population growth, one has only 
to look to our own species and 
what population explosion has al- 
ready done to the environment. 
Translated to insects, which com- 
prise 80 per cent (an esimated 
Bi VNOrs a AU DU B‘O Ni. BULLE TUN 5 
500,000 to 1.5 million species) 
of all terrestrial animals, even the 
partial elimination of biological 
control would engender unimag- 
inable chaos. 
Biological control of insects, 
then, is of great importance to us 
and perhaps even critical to our 
survival. [here are two major as- 
pects of it — the classical and the 
naturally occurring. 
Classic Use of Predator Insects 
Man long ago discerned that 
various living things preyed upon 
insects and kept them under re- 
straint. [The ancient Chinese and 
Yemenese manipulated predaceous 
ants to control pests in their or- 
chards. But it was not until 1873 
that a natural enemy was trans- 
ferred from one continent to an- 
other to effect control of an insect 
pest. Then a predaceous mite 
from the United States was colo- 
nized in France against the grape 
Phylloxera (a kind of aphid). The 
predator became established, but 
did not significantly affect the 
pest. 
A few years later, in California, 
a lady beetle importd from Aus- 
tralia spectacularly controlled the 
cottony cushion scale, a devastat- 
ing pest of citrus. [his landmark 
case, which established the valid- 
ity of natural enemy introduction, 
has been followed by more than 
100 partially to fully successful 
programs worldwide. 
Classical biological control has 
its basis in the fact that when 
exotic pests accidentally invade 
new environments (e.g., California 
from Australia), they often leave 
behind their effective natural ene- 
mies and erupt to great abun- 
dance. The trick, then, is to seek 
out the pest’s native habitat, 
