Beneficial Insects

Releasing beneficial insects to a crop is a great way to control pests

This method is called augmentative bio-control.  It is used to release insects that are the natural enemies of the pest.

2 approaches to this method of bio-control:

• Inoculative Releases: The preventative release of small numbers of beneficial insects to keep the pest levels low and develop a beneficial insect colony to maintain the low pest levels

• Inundative Releases: The release of large numbers of beneficial insects to reduce the pest levels quickly and build a colony of beneficial insects

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Using beneficial insects works best as part of an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program:

Weekly crop scouting to count the pest and predator insects

Record and store the results to watch the trends of the insects

Use environmental, physical, and cultural controls to control pest outbreaks

If pests are increasing quickly; release beneficial insects into crop

Examples of beneficial insects are predatory mites, predatory insect larvae or adults, and parasitoid wasps

We offer limited pest management advice to customers who purchase our products