Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, whether pest animals such as insects and mites, weeds, or pathogens affecting animals or plants by using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or other natural mechanisms, but typically also involves an active human management role. It can be an important component of integrated pest management (IPM) programs.
Pinus jeffreyi, also known as Jeffrey pine, Jeffrey's pine, yellow pine and black pine, is a North American pine tree. It is mainly found in California, but also in the westernmost part of Nevada, southwestern Oregon, and northern Baja California. It is named in honor of its botanist documenter John Jeffrey.
Scale insects are small insects of the order Hemiptera, suborder Sternorrhyncha. Of dramatically variable appearance and extreme sexual dimorphism, they comprise the infraorder Coccomorpha which is considered a more convenient grouping than the superfamily Coccoidea due to taxonomic uncertainties. Adult females typically have soft bodies and no limbs, and are concealed underneath domed scales, extruding quantities of wax for protection. Some species are hermaphroditic, with a combined ovotestis instead of separate ovaries and testes. Males, in the species where they occur, have legs and sometimes wings, and resemble small flies. Scale insects are herbivores, piercing plant tissues with their mouthparts and remaining in one place, feeding on sap. The excess fluid they imbibe is secreted as honeydew on which sooty mold tends to grow. The insects often have a mutualistic relationship with ants, which feed on the honeydew and protect them from predators. There are about 8,000 described species.
The rainbow trout is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in North America and Asia. The steelhead is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coastal rainbow trout(O. m. irideus) or Columbia River redband trout (O. m. gairdneri) that usually returns to freshwater to spawn after living two to three years in the ocean. Freshwater forms that have been introduced into the Great Lakes and migrate into tributaries to spawn are also called steelhead.
Ficus microcarpa, also known as Chinese banyan, small-fruited fig, Malayan banyan, Indian laurel, or curtain fig, is a species of banyan tree in the family Moraceae. Its native range is from India to China and Japan, through Southeast Asia and the western Pacific to the state of Queensland in Australia, and it has been introduced to parts of the Americas and the Mediterranean. It was first described in 1782, and is a culturally significant plant in a number of Asian countries.
Cymothoa exigua, or the tongue-eating louse, is a parasitic isopod of the family Cymothoidae. It enters a fish through the gills. The female attaches to the tongue, while the male attaches to the gill arches beneath and behind the female. Females are 8–29 mm (0.3–1.1 in) long and 4–14 mm (0.16–0.55 in) wide. Males are about 7.5–15 mm (0.3–0.6 in) long and 3–7 mm (0.12–0.28 in) wide. The parasite severs the blood vessels in the fish's tongue, causing the tongue to fall off. It then attaches itself to the remaining stub of tongue and the parasite itself effectively serves as the fish's new "tongue".
The New Zealand mud snail is a species of very small freshwater snail with a gill and an operculum. This aquatic gastropod mollusk is in the family Tateidae.
Indotyphlops braminus, commonly known as the brahminy blind snake and other names, is a non-venomous blind snake species, found mostly in Africa and Asia, and has been introduced in many other parts of the world. It is a completely fossorial reptile, with habits and appearance similar to an earthworm, for which it is often mistaken, although close examination reveals tiny scales and eyes rather than the annular segments characteristic of a true earthworm. The species is parthenogenetic and all known specimens have been female. The specific name is a Latinized form of the word Brahmin. No subspecies are currently recognized as being valid.
Icerya purchasi is a scale insect that feeds on more than 80 families of woody plants, most notably on Citrus and Pittosporum. Originally described in 1878 from specimens collected in New Zealand as pests of kangaroo acacia and named by W.M. Maskell "after the Rev. Dr. Purchas who, [he] believe[d], first found it", it is now found worldwide where citrus crops are grown. The cottony cushion scale originates from Australia.
In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution during history. The term is equivalent to the concept of indigenous or autochthonous species.
Albert Koebele was an economic entomologist and a pioneer in the use of biological controls to manage insect pests.
Novius cardinalis is a species of ladybird beetle native to Australia. It was formerly placed in the genus Vedalia, then renamed to Rodolia, but that genus was synonymized under the genus Novius in 2020. The "vedalia beetle" came to public attention as an effective biological control agent against cottony cushion scale, a serious pest of citrus plantations.
Monophlebidae is a family of scale insects commonly known as the giant scales or monophlebids. They occur in most parts of the world but more genera are found in the tropics than elsewhere.
iNaturalist is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit social network of naturalists, citizen scientists, and biologists built on the concept of mapping and sharing observations of biodiversity across the globe. iNaturalist may be accessed via its website or from its mobile applications. iNaturalist includes an automated species identification tool, and users further assist each other in identifying organisms from photographs and even sound recordings. As of 25 December 2024, iNaturalist users had contributed approximately 222,324,751 observations of plants, animals, fungi, and other organisms worldwide, and 290,007 users were active in the previous 30 days.
Frazer Smith Crawford was a photographer in the colony of South Australia, founding manager of the Adelaide Photographic Company, then photolithographer for the Government of South Australia. In a seemingly unrelated sphere, Crawford came to be recognised as an authority on agricultural pests and diseases, particularly known for identifying and exploiting naturally occurring predators of plant pests.
Cryptochetum is a genus of scale parasite flies in the family Cryptochetidae. There are more than 30 described species in Cryptochetum.
Rhyzobius forestieri is a species of lady beetle in the family Coccinellidae. It is found in Australia, North America, Oceania, and Europe. The species is thought to be originally from Australia and recently introduced to parts of Europe in the 1980s as a biological control agent to control the Olive Scale pest.
Nancy B. Simmons is an American zoologist, mammalogist, professor, and author. Specializing in bats, Simmons has conducted extensive research on the morphology and evolutionary history of numerous bat species. She is also the curator-in-charge of the Department of Mammalogy at the American Museum of Natural History and a professor at the Richard Gilder Graduate School.
Novius iceryae is a species of ladybird beetle native to Afrotropical realm, and was described from South Africa. It is also found in Senegal. In 1880, Novius iceryae was used to successfully control cottony cushion scale, Icerya purchasi in South Africa. It was later introduced in New Zealand for the management of cottony cushion scale. This and related species were formerly classified in the genus Rodolia.
