Tiny Wasps Provide Natural Alternative?

Or it could be an ecological disaster, as introducing one species to combat another species often turns out to be. However, after a "detailed" study, scientists are looking at using tiny parasitic wasps as a natural solution to pesticide to protect crops.

Parasitic wasps attack and kill pest insects, but many of them are smaller than the head of a pin, so people don't even notice them or know of their important role in keeping pest numbers down.

There are over 600,000 species of these amazing critters, and we owe them a lot. If it weren't for parasitoids and other natural enemies, we would be knee-deep in pest insects.

"Parasitoid wasps are like 'smart bombs' that seek out and kill only specific kinds of insects. Therefore, if we can harness their full potential, they would be vastly preferable to chemical pesticides, which broadly kill or poison many organisms in the environment, including us." This is the view of John Werren, professor of biology at the University of Rochester in New York, and one of the lead scientists oin the study.

Because the wasps are so tiny – often smaller than the head of a pin – they go unnoticed in their role of keeping other pests in check, such as caterpillars. The key in using them as pest control is that wasps target specific insects, and there are 60,000 species of the wasps. Therefore, if we can harness their full potential, they would be vastly preferable to chemical pesticides, which broadly kill or poison many organisms in the environment, including us.

The three wasp genomes Werren and co-scientist Stephen Richards, from the Bayer College of Medicine, sequenced are in the wasp genus Nasonia, which is considered the "lab rat" of parasitoid insects.

Among the future applications of the Nasonia genomes that could be of use in pest control is identification of genes that determine which insects a parasitoid will attack, identification of dietary needs of parasitoids to assist in economical, large-scale rearing of parasitoids, and identification of parasitoid venoms that could be used in pest control.

Of course studies like this have been carried out before, with insects being drafted to fight invasive weeds and pests, but the danger is that these so-called biological control agents can also attack innocent native species.

It still seems safer to lean towards companion gardening as a solution to massive monocultures to help aid pest control – or even spices seem more preferable. We've seen too many examples of failed attempts at using one species to control another to rush onto this as a brilliant idea. Perhaps worth exploring the potential, but warily so.

Article provided by Lavender Pest Control