Biological Solutions

These small wasps parasitize leafminer larvae in field and greenhouse crops. The parasitic wasp lays its eggs in or next to leaf miner larvae of the second and third instar. Diglyphus isaea kills leaf-miner larva in the mine and lays an egg on it. The egg develops into a parasitic wasp inside the mine (but outside the leaf miner), using the dead larva as food. Host-feeding also takes place. The young parasite larvae hatch from these eggs, and will then feed on the body fluids of the larvae. Duration of development; egg-adult, at 68ºF (20ºC) ± 16 days.

C. montrouzieri is a voracious feeder of mealybugs in both the larval and adult stages - a single larva may consume up to 250 small mealybugs.

Orius insidiosus, also called the minute pirate bug, is an aggressive thrips predator – possibly the most effective. It attacks and kills all mobile stages of thrips, including adult thrips. Orius is aggressive – it consumes 12 thrips per day but kills many more than it eats.

Amblyseius (Neoseiulus) cucumeris, the thrips predatory mite, are useful for the prevention, control, and management of various thrips species. A. cucumeris are tough, flexible predators that happen to prefer thrips, mostly the immature thrips stages. It moves quickly to attack eggs, larvae and small adult thrips. These predators are supplied two different ways: a bulk product in vermiculite for fast distribution and consumption; and a sachet product for slow preventive releases over an 3-4-week period.

Lacewings stay where you place the cards in your garden, and the larvae are voracious feeders on those pesky bugs. The larvae are voracious predators used to control a wide range of soft-bodied pest insects. Green Lacewings larvae eat aphids, mealybugs, spider mites, leafhopper nymphs, moth eggs, scale, thrips, and whiteflies. The best time to release is early morning or late afternoon. The cards can be stored at no lower than 50°F for up to 48 hours.

The eggs are on perforated hanging cards, hang the cards, from the hole in the card, near the underside of leaves in the target area.

Bumblebees used for pollination of various crops. Greenhouse tomato plants (as just one example), as do their outdoor brethren, require pollination to fruit. Outdoors this is done by bees, wasps, wind and other natural sources. In the greenhouse, however, people and sometimes their people-made devices must be the bees and the wind. On tomato plants, growers manually, or with a small “buzz” device, shake or vibrate the flower laden trusses.
The problem is the amount of focused manpower needed to properly carry out the pollination process. That’s where commercially produced bees come in: commercial bumblebee hives, for example, are designed exclusively for crop pollination. Not just for tomatoes, but other crops as well: peppers; cukes; squash; cane-, straw-, blue- and cranberries; and many other crops in need of primary or supplemental pollinators.