Quality Control and Production of Biological Control Agents: Theory and Testing Procedures

by J. C. van Lenteren (Editor)

Overview

The use of biological control agents has been increasing worldwide and there are now many companies mass-producing such organisms, particularly for the control of insect pests. However, there is a great need for quality control in the production and use of these natural enemies, which include insect parasitoids and predators, fungi and viruses. This book has been written by leading scientists from Europe and North America to provide both background theory and practical guidance on this subject.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780851996882
Publisher:	CABI
Publication date:	06/19/2003
Series:	Cabi Series
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.88(w) x 9.75(h) x (d)

About the Author

J. C. van Lenteren is with the Department of Entomology, Wageningen University, The Netherlands.

Table of Contents

* Need for quality control for mass produced biological control
* Aspects of total quality for the production of natural enemies
* A variable-response model for parasitoid foraging behaviour
* Variations in natural enemy foraging behaviour: essential element of a sound biological control theory
* The parasitoids' need for sweets: sugars in mass rearing and biological control
* Managing captive populations for release: a population genetic perspective
* Adaptive recovery of fitness reduction: the role of population size
* The use of unisexual wasps in biological control
* Comparison of artificially vs. naturally reared natural enemies and their potential for use in biological control
* Pathogens of mass-produced natural enemies and pollinators
* Commercial availability of biological control agents
* Mass production, storage, shipment and release of natural enemies
* Regulation of import and release of mass produced natural enemies: a risk assessment approach
* Quality assurance in North America: merging customer and producer needs
* State of affairs and future directions of product quality assurance in Europe
* The relationship between results from laboratory product control tests and large cage tests where dispersal of natural enemies is possible: a case study with Phytoseiulus persimilis
* Quality of augmentative biological control agents: A historical perspective and lessons learned from evaluating trichogramma
* Towards the standardisation of quality control of fungal and viral biocontrol agents
* Guidelines for quality control of commercially produced natural enemies
* Basic statistical methods for quality control workers