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INTRODUCTION
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BIOLOGICAL PEST CONTROL
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Introduction From the 1900’s the partial,
substantial and complete biological control of a large number of insects,
mites, weeds and mammals has been attained in over 70 countries. As an adjunct to other methods, it is
safe, effective and usually permanent.
Emphasis on the biological control method can act to restore the
erosion of the human environment by de-emphasizing such disruptive methods of
pest control as some cultural practices, and notably the use of
broad-spectrum pesticides. California took an early lead and
continues to be one of the major centers for biological control work. By 1961, approximately 1/3d of all the
beneficial insects established in the continental United States had been
introduced by California-based organizations. --- During the 1980's and early
1990's UC Riverside and Berkeley had maintained a total of about 18 full-time
professional staff plus several emeriti, and about 10 research associates,
and graduate students that varied from 10-20. On a national scale, the U. S.
Department of Agriculture employs varying numbers (25-40) of entomologists in
biological control work, depending on active programs. On the world scene, it is estimated that
there have been aver 300 entomologists engaged in classical practical
biological control work in any one year.
This does not include persons engaged in fundamental research only. Economics
Some examples of individual projects give fairly accurate
figures for the damage caused by a pest of and the cost of biological control
work as follows: Permanent control of the coconut scale, Aspidiotus destructor,
on the Portuguese Island of Principe off the west coast of Africa was
achieved by the introduction of the coccinellid predator Cryptognatha nodiceps
from Trinidad in 1955. Losses in
copra production, the principal crop of Principe, caused by the coconut scale
were estimated at 900 tons annually, which was then worth about #72,000
(English pounds). At a cost of #200, Cryptognatha was collected and
shipped to Principe by the CIBC, which also supplied an entomologist who for
one year bred the predator, supervised its release, establishment and spread,
etc. at an additional cost of #3,500.
The total cost of this project, therefore, was about #3,700. The financial return from the complete
control has been about #1,000,000 as of 1970, or a 1,800% return per
annum. Not a bad investment! Introduced natural enemies have very successfully controlled
the sugar cane moth borers, Diatraea spp., in certain areas of the
West Indies and South America. For example,
in Antigua the cost of liberations of Lixophaga diatraeae during 1931 and 1945
was about #8.500. The case return
from this project in terms of increased sugar at the factory and increased
yields in the field has been about #16,000 annually since 1934, or about 200%
per annum and about #552,000 to 1961.
The later acquisition of Apanteles flavipes Cameron from India further increased the
magnitude of biological control so that savings soared beyond this
level. On the island of St. Kitts,
where permanent control was achieved, the total cost of introducing Lixophaga in 1934 was
#200. The resulting benefits have
accrued to about #50,000/annum or #1,700,000 by 1970, a return of 15,000% per
annum! There are many other examples where estimates are not so
simple. Evaluation of the worth of
many of the successes listed in Chapters 23 & 24 of the DeBach (1964)
text is, unfortunately, impossible.
Chapter 1 of the DeBach (1964) shows a rough balance for biological
control work carried out in California for the interval 1923-1959. Considering a total budget outlay of about
$4,300,000 against about $115,800,000 benefits realized from just five
successful biological control projects, the citrophilous mealybug, the black
scale, the grapeleaf skeletonizer, the spotted alfalfa aphid and the Klamath
weed, it is obvious that the economic returns from funds invested have been
of the nature that any businessman would consider extremely
satisfactory. An estimate of the
present benefits being derived from these five successes is about $10,500,000
annually, not to mention the reduction of pesticidal threats to the
environment. It must be kept in mind that many more than five successes are
registered, but economic data is difficult to derive. However, this does indicate that
biological control, though by no means a panacea for all our pest problems
can be a sound investment and extremely profitable venture. Important Terms Natural Enemies
(predators, parasitoids, pathogens, parasites. Organisms that prey upon other organisms, parasitize them, or
cause disease). Predators are
organisms that consume more than one host individual or prey during the
course of their development.
Predators are usually free-living in all stages except the egg
stage. They kill and consume their
prey either immediately or within a relatively short period of time. Some predators feed indiscriminately upon
various developmental stages and kinds of prey; other are more selective. Parasites are organisms that live within the
body of their hosts without killing the host, but usually debilitating them
to various degrees. Parasitoids are
insects that reach maturity by developing upon a single host individual,
eventually killing same. Three insect
orders contain many species that have adopted the parasitoidal habit, namely
Hymenoptera, Diptera and Strepsiptera, with Hymenoptera being the largest
representative. Pathogens include
viruses, bacteria, protozoa, fungi and nematodes. They cause diseases of arthropods. Biological Control is a
term that has been used both in a fundamental ecological sense and in the
utilitarian sense to designate a field of human endeavor. Originally, the term was defined for use
in the applied sense. Biological
control can be considered a phase of natural control or limitation. Natural Control is the balance of nature,
natural balance, population balance or what Darwin called "the struggle
for existence." Natural control
has also been considered as "The maintenance of a fluctuating population
density of an organism with certain definable upper and lower limits over a
protracted period of time, by the action of abiotic and biotic environmental
factors." If we plot the density of any organism (D) against time (T),
we see that over a protracted period of time its population density will
fluctuate within certain limits and about a characteristic mean density, that
of its general equilibrium level. Natural control is essentially permanent in the absence of
gross permanent environmental changes.
It is characteristic of all plant and animal populations on the face
of the earth. Therefore,
"biological control" can be considered as representing the action
of natural enemies (biotic factors) in maintaining another organism's
population density at a lower average level than would occur in the
absence. In 1919, Harry Scott Smith <PHOTO> first used the term
biological control to denote "the utilization of organisms for the
control of population densities of animals and plants." Since then many definitions have been
offered, generating considerable discussion and argument. Some expand the meaning to cover such
things as breeding resistant plants and genetic engineering. An extreme case was presented by Pollard in the 1966 Bulletin Entomological Society
of America:
"Parasites, predators, viruses, bacteria, fungi, nematodes,
pathogens, birds, mice, skunks, fish.....heat, light, sound, genetics,
metabolism, X-rays, laser beams, chemosterilants, nutrition, attractants, sex
lures, gamma irradiation, diapause and ecology. The International Biological Program gave the simplest
definition: "Using biota to
control biota." Dr. Jost M.
Franz <PHOTO> of the Institut für
Biologische Schädlingsbekämpfung offered the following modification of
Smith's definition in his 1961 text:
"Biological control denotes the active manipulation of
antagonistic organisms by man to reduce pest population densities, both plant
and animal, to non-economically important levels." Autocidal Control is the
mass release of artificially sterilized or genetically inferior individuals
which are used to inundate and possibly eradicate geographically isolated
pest populations. Other Controls include
chemical, cultural, resistant varieties of crops and legislative control
(quarantine) The modern approach to pest control considers, and in
various ways utilizes, all of the eight kinds of control. As a result we have gravely suffered in
the execution of the classical approach in that only a fraction of the
control research funds has been spent on it during the past several
decades. Hopefully we are entering a
new era of awareness and will elevate the classical approach to a higher
priority, since history shows that it nest the greatest permanent effects in
pest control. Exercise 1.1-- Is the biological
control approach cost effective?
Explain. Exercise 1.2-- Name and describe four kinds of natural enemy. Exercise 1.3-- What is natural control?
Biological control? Exercise 1.4-- What is the modern approach to pest control? REFERENCES [Additional references may be
found at MELVYL
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1046 p. Altieri, M. A.
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975-991, Handbook of Biological Control: Principles and Applications. Academic Press, San Diego, New York. 1046 p. Bellows, T. S. 1999.
Controlling soil-borne plant pathogens. 1999. In: T. S. Bellows & T. W. Fisher (eds.),
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Whither, hence, prometheus?
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1046 p. |
