ABSTRACT
Increased concern about human health and the environment, fast development of resistance by insects to pesticides, and the interest to utilize sustainable agricultural methods are important stimuli for the application of biological control of pests as an essential component in future crop protection programs. Nowadays, for several cropping systems, classical biological control (where natural enemies are collected in an exploration area-usually the area of origin of the pest-and introduced in new areas where the pest occurs) or augmentative biological control (where natural enemies are mass reared in biofactories and periodically released) can be more economical than conventional chemical pest control (Gurr and Wratten 2000). Also, conservation biological control (which consists of actions that protect and stimulate the performance of naturally occurring natural enemies) can be an important approach for developing more sustainable cropping systems.
