GB2305843A - Biological control of insect pests - Google Patents

Biological control of insect pests Download PDF

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Publication number
GB2305843A
GB2305843A GB9520074A GB9520074A GB2305843A GB 2305843 A GB2305843 A GB 2305843A GB 9520074 A GB9520074 A GB 9520074A GB 9520074 A GB9520074 A GB 9520074A GB 2305843 A GB2305843 A GB 2305843A
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United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
chamber
insect
predators
chamber according
predator
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
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GB9520074A
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GB9520074D0 (en
Inventor
Peter Rossiter
Peter Mcewen
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Individual
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Individual
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Priority to GB9520074A priority Critical patent/GB2305843A/en
Publication of GB9520074D0 publication Critical patent/GB9520074D0/en
Publication of GB2305843A publication Critical patent/GB2305843A/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A01AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
    • A01KANIMAL HUSBANDRY; AVICULTURE; APICULTURE; PISCICULTURE; FISHING; REARING OR BREEDING ANIMALS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; NEW BREEDS OF ANIMALS
    • A01K67/00Rearing or breeding animals, not otherwise provided for; New or modified breeds of animals
    • A01K67/033Rearing or breeding invertebrates; New breeds of invertebrates
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A01AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
    • A01MCATCHING, TRAPPING OR SCARING OF ANIMALS; APPARATUS FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF NOXIOUS ANIMALS OR NOXIOUS PLANTS
    • A01M9/00Special adaptations or arrangements of powder-spraying apparatus for purposes covered by this subclass

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  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Environmental Sciences (AREA)
  • Zoology (AREA)
  • Animal Behavior & Ethology (AREA)
  • Animal Husbandry (AREA)
  • Biodiversity & Conservation Biology (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Insects & Arthropods (AREA)
  • Pest Control & Pesticides (AREA)
  • Wood Science & Technology (AREA)
  • Catching Or Destruction (AREA)

Abstract

A method and apparatus for the biological control of insect pests in a selected area. The control includes luring naturally occurring insect predators into a chamber 1 during a winter period, breeding the predators and re-introducing the chamber containing the predators into the selected area.

Description

Biological Control of Insect Pests The present invention relates to biological control of insect pests and, in particular, to a method and apparatus for biologically control of insect pests using naturally occurring insect predators.
Insects are a major source of damage to crops and other plants, in agriculture and horticulture. Pesticides and other such chemical agents are generally used to control such insect pests. However, many pesticides are very persistent in the environment and are highly resistant to natural or biological degradation. Therefore, the pesticides can enter the food chain and cause damage, or even death, to higher animals. There is, therefore, a continuing need for a more environmentally friendly way of controlling insect pests.
An alternative to pesticides is biological control of the pests, using for example, natural insect predators. This alternative is cheaper and more environmentally friendly than using chemical pesticides; such techniques are increasingly being seen as viable environmentally friendly alternatives. However, a problem associated with the use of natural insect predators is that it is difficult to maintain and control the natural enemy predator populations at a sufficiently high number in any given area so as to provide sufficient protection against the pests.
Furthermore, early in the season, the greatest numbers of pests is typically present when the population of the predators is less than optimum.
Some insects, including predators, survive over the winter period in a semi-active physiological state known as diapause, which state is analogous to hibernation in higher taxonomic species. The diapause state is brought about in the insect in response to changes in day length and temperature. The insects, however, need to find a suitable overwintering site, such as the unheated parts of houses, stables, barns or the like.
It is an object of the present invention to alleviate such difficulties, by providing a method and apparatus which can help to conserve the population of naturally occurring insect predators in a given area so as to permit control of insect pests, and which can use the natural phenomenon of diapause which occurs in some insect predator populations.
Therefore, according to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of biological control of insect pests in a given area; which method comprises: introducing (for example, by luring) selected insect predators, which are capable of surviving over a winter season in their diapause state, into a substantially enclosed insect conservation chamber; maintaining a viable colony of the introduced insect predators within the chamber over the winter season; introducing the chamber with the insect predator colony therein, after said winter season, into an area selected for biological control; and permitting release of said insect predators from said chamber into said area.
Thus, advantageously, the method according to the invention allows increased numbers of insect predators to be introduced into the selected area at a time or season when pest populations are beginning to be established, when the natural occurring predator populations are generally low. The method according to the invention is also advantageous because it is possible to select a particular predator for a particular insect pest, providing that the predator is one capable of surviving in the diapause state over the winter season.
Preferably, the method according to the invention further comprises luring the predators into the chamber from the selected area containing the pest, before the winter season, and encouraging the predator to colonise within the chamber. The predator may be lured to the chamber using chemical attractant material and/or visual stimuli or the like.
The method according to the invention may also comprise applying an insect food to the plants or crops in the selected area, prior to or during introduction of the chamber into the selected area. Advantageously, the insect food may be one which encourages egg production, which thereby helps to increase the population of insect predators even further. An exemplary insect food which may be used for this purpose comprises a mixture of yeast, sugar and water, preferably in the ratio of 4:7:10 respectively.
Predators which may be used in the method according to the invention include the green lacewing (Chrysoperla carnea), ladybirds or the like. The lacewing is a commonly occurring insect whose larvae are highly voracious for a wide range of insect pests. Each female lacewing can lay up to one thousand eggs and each individual larva will consume several hundred insects during its development.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided an insect conservation chamber for use in accordance with the first aspect of the invention, which chamber encloses an environment suitable for colonisation by selected insect predators, the chamber having access means to allow the insect predators to enter and exit, which access means is arranged to maintain the chamber substantially sheltered from the external environment. Thus, advantageously an insect conservation chamber is provided which is suitable for conserving the predators during the winter season so as to optimise the number of predators which can be introduced into the selected area after winter.
The chamber may further comprise attractant means to lure selected species of insect predator. Thus the chamber can be placed in the field in the autumn to lure the insect predators which subsequently colonise the chamber before the latter is placed into storage over winter.
Preferably, the attractant means comprises a chemical lure and/or a visual stimulus. The lure may comprise, for example, acid-hydrolysed L-tryptophan where the insect predator to be used is the green lacewing. The chemical lure may be incorporated into, for example, a polyethylene vial, which advantageously allows slow continuous release of the lure.
Preferably, the access means comprises a portion (such as a wall) of the chamber having louvres, apertures or slits or the like, which advantageously allows the predator substantially free access to the interior of the chamber, yet maintains the interior of the chamber substantially sheltered from adverse ambient weather conditions such as wind or rain or the like.
The chamber advantageously has an angled roof comprising a pair of inclined panels extending from a flat base to a ridge apex, which advantageously allows rain etc. to run off the chamber.
Means is preferably provided for supporting the chamber above a ground surface; examples of such support means include support poles or the like, the height of which may be dependent on the crops in the area to be controlled. For example, a height of approximately 30cm may be adequate for sugar beet, whilst a much longer support would be required for olive groves or the like. Alternatively, the device may be suspended, for example, using a wire frame, from a tree or wall or the like.
Preferably, the interior of the chamber may contain straw or the like, which advantageously can provide substantially optimum conditions for the diapause state of the insect predator over the winter season.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, means are provided to protect the selected insect predators from their own natural predators, such as spiders or the like. In one embodiment, such means may comprise an ammonia containing or releasing liquid, which may be coated on, or near, the chamber (for example on a support pole). Such protection means should, of course, be such as to repel natural predators of the selected insect predator, yet not substantially affect the selected insect predator.
The chamber may be constructed from plastics material, typically in the form of a rigid sheet, for ease of construction, durability and weather-resistance. An example of a suitable material is commercially available under the trade mark Correx.
The invention may be more clearly understood from the following description of an illustrative example thereof, given by way of illustration only, and with reference to the accompanying drawing.
Referring to the drawing, there is shown an insect conservation chamber, generally indicated by reference numeral 1. The chamber comprises a generally triangular prism-shaped hollow container 2, which has a louvred front wall 3, and side walls 4,5 which extend upwardly from a rectangular base 6 to a ridge 7 so as to form a roof. A support pole 8 maintains the chamber above the ground (not shown). The side walls 4,5 and/or the louvred front wall 3 are coloured so as to attract a selected insect predator. For example, the side walls may be uniformly coloured yellow, which is particularly attractive to green lacewings in the field.
A chemical lure (such as acid-hydrolysed L-tryptophan) may be provided in a polyethylene vial (not shown) in the interior of the chamber 1, to attract the insect predators.
In use, the chamber 1 is initially placed in an agricultural or horticultural area during the autumn when the insect predator population is abundant. When the insect predators have colonised the chamber and entered the diapause state, in response to the shortening days and cooler temperatures, the chamber is removed from the area and kept in storage at optimum hibernating conditions for the insect predator, thus ensuring optimum numbers of insect predators survive the winter.
Following storage, the chamber can be returned to the area where pest control is required in the following spring. The insect predators then leave diapause, thus placing large numbers of the insect predators in the field at a time when pest populations are starting to become established.
The crops or plants to be protected may also be sprayed with an insect food, such as one comprising yeast, sugar and water in the ratio of 4:7:10, which provides the proteinaceous material required by the predators to produce eggs. When green lacewings are the selected insect predators, the larvae begin to emerge and feed on the insect pest population, reducing the numbers of pests present, and thereby reducing damage to crops.

Claims (21)

Claims:
1. A method of biological control of insect pests in an area selected for said control, which method comprises: luring selected insect predators for said pests, which are capable of surviving over a winter season in their diapause state, into a substantially enclosed insect conservation chamber, said luring being by means of a chemical attractant; providing food for said predators and allowing said predators to mature eggs so as to maintain a viable colony of said insect predators in said chamber; introducing said chamber with said insect predator colony therein, after a winter season, into said area; and permitting release of said insect predators from said chamber into said selected area.
2. A method according to claim 1, wherein said chemical lure comprises acid-hydrolysed L-tryptophan.
3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said luring further comprises using a visual stimulus.
4. A method according to any of claims 1 to 3, which further comprises applying an insect food to plants or crops in said selected area, prior to or during introduction of said chamber into said selected area.
5. A method according to claim 4, wherein said insect food comprises one which encourages egg production in said insect.
6. A method according to any of claims 1 to 5, wherein said insect food comprises a mixture of yeast, sugar and water.
7. A method according to claim 6, wherein said yeast, sugar and water are in the ratio 4:7:10.
8. A method according to any of claims 1 to 7, wherein said predator comprises the green lacewing (Chrysoperla carnea), or ladybirds.
9. An insect conservation chamber for use in accordance with any of claims 1 to 8, which chamber encloses an environment suitable for colonisation by selected insect predators, said chamber having access means to allow said insect predators to enter and exit, which access means is arranged to maintain said chamber substantially sheltered from the external environment, said chamber further comprises chemical attractant to lure selected insect predators to said chamber.
10. A chamber according to claim 9, wherein said chemical lure comprises, acid-hydrolysed L-tryptophan.
11. A chamber according to claim 9 or 10, wherein said chemical lure is incorporated into a polyethylene vial.
12. A chamber according to any of claims 9 to 11, wherein said access means comprises a portion of said chamber having louvres, apertures or slits therein.
13. A chamber according to any of claims 9 to 12, wherein said access means is provided in a wall portion of said chamber.
14. A chamber according to any of claims 9 to 13, which chamber comprises an angled roof having a pair of inclined panels extending from a flat base to a ridge apex.
15. A chamber according to any of claims 9 to 14, which further comprises support means to support said chamber above a ground surface.
16. A chamber according to claim 12, wherein said support means comprises a pole or a wall.
17. A chamber according to any of claims 9 to 16, wherein the interior of said chamber contains an insulating material.
18. A chamber according to claim 17, wherein said insulating material comprises straw.
19. A chamber according to any of claims 9 to 18, which further comprises means to protect said insect predators from their own natural predators.
20. A chamber according to claim 19, wherein said protection means comprise an ammonia-containing or ammonia-releasing liquid coated on, or near, said chamber.
21. A chamber according to any of claims 9 to 20, which chamber is constructed from plastics material, in the form of a rigid sheet.
GB9520074A 1995-10-02 1995-10-02 Biological control of insect pests Withdrawn GB2305843A (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB9520074A GB2305843A (en) 1995-10-02 1995-10-02 Biological control of insect pests

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB9520074A GB2305843A (en) 1995-10-02 1995-10-02 Biological control of insect pests

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GB2305843A true GB2305843A (en) 1997-04-23

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Cited By (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6634315B1 (en) 1999-05-31 2003-10-21 Kjell Hall Method of feeding ants and a food dispenser for the purpose
GB2393890A (en) * 2004-02-17 2004-04-14 Syngenta Bioline Ltd System for Providing Beneficial Organisms
WO2009034178A1 (en) * 2007-09-14 2009-03-19 Faculté Universitaire des Sciences Agronomiques de Gembloux Treatment method using biological control
WO2012025270A2 (en) 2010-08-23 2012-03-01 Universite De Liege Use of a composition as an auxiliary attractant
RU2460289C1 (en) * 2011-05-06 2012-09-10 Государственное научное учреждение Северо-Кавказский зональный научно-исследовательский институт садоводства и виноградарства Россельхозакадемии Method of biological control of sucking pests of agricultural crops
RU2462033C1 (en) * 2011-06-09 2012-09-27 Государственное научное учреждение Северо-Кавказский зональный научно-исследовательский институт садоводства и виноградарства Россельхозакадемии Method of biological control of phytophagous mites-pests
CN105075744A (en) * 2015-08-10 2015-11-25 宁波市农业科学研究院 Trichogramma releasing carrier and application method thereof
CN106538480A (en) * 2016-11-09 2017-03-29 贵州大学 A kind of minute pirate bugs release device and method

Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4441272A (en) * 1979-05-10 1984-04-10 Gisela Bartz Method and apparatus for attracting useful insects
US5002013A (en) * 1989-11-16 1991-03-26 Brown Arthur C Butterfly hibernation container

Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4441272A (en) * 1979-05-10 1984-04-10 Gisela Bartz Method and apparatus for attracting useful insects
US5002013A (en) * 1989-11-16 1991-03-26 Brown Arthur C Butterfly hibernation container

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
J.Appl.Ent. 114 (1992) 497-501 (SENGONCA) *

Cited By (11)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6634315B1 (en) 1999-05-31 2003-10-21 Kjell Hall Method of feeding ants and a food dispenser for the purpose
GB2393890A (en) * 2004-02-17 2004-04-14 Syngenta Bioline Ltd System for Providing Beneficial Organisms
FR2849646A1 (en) * 2004-02-17 2004-07-09 Syngenta Bioline Ltd SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING BENEFICENT INSECTS OR MITES, AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING PEST INSECTS USING THEM
GB2393890B (en) * 2004-02-17 2004-08-25 Syngenta Bioline Ltd System for providing beneficial insects or mites
WO2009034178A1 (en) * 2007-09-14 2009-03-19 Faculté Universitaire des Sciences Agronomiques de Gembloux Treatment method using biological control
WO2012025270A2 (en) 2010-08-23 2012-03-01 Universite De Liege Use of a composition as an auxiliary attractant
RU2460289C1 (en) * 2011-05-06 2012-09-10 Государственное научное учреждение Северо-Кавказский зональный научно-исследовательский институт садоводства и виноградарства Россельхозакадемии Method of biological control of sucking pests of agricultural crops
RU2462033C1 (en) * 2011-06-09 2012-09-27 Государственное научное учреждение Северо-Кавказский зональный научно-исследовательский институт садоводства и виноградарства Россельхозакадемии Method of biological control of phytophagous mites-pests
CN105075744A (en) * 2015-08-10 2015-11-25 宁波市农业科学研究院 Trichogramma releasing carrier and application method thereof
CN105075744B (en) * 2015-08-10 2017-09-15 宁波市农业科学研究院 A kind of trichogramma release vehicle and its application process
CN106538480A (en) * 2016-11-09 2017-03-29 贵州大学 A kind of minute pirate bugs release device and method

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Publication number Publication date
GB9520074D0 (en) 1995-12-06

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