ABSTRACT
Biological control employs parasites, predators, or pathogens to suppress pest populations. Interest in biological control is increasing as consumers become more intolerant of pesticide residues and as availability of conventional pesticides decreases due to pest resistance, developmental costs, and government registration and safety requirements. The practicality of biological control is exemplified by the dominant role it plays in integrated pest management in greenhouses in northern Europe. The theory of biological control is based on “natural control”, which can be observed in the balance of predator—prey and parasite—host populations. Biological control employs beneficial organisms as pest control operators. Host specificity is important in understanding how many pest species can be attacked by a particular biological control agent and also what non target species could be affected. Very few field-scale experiments to evaluate the efficacy of biological control agents of stored-product pests have been performed.
