Identification and Comparison of the Effectiveness of Commercial and Indigenous Biological Control Methods
Keywords:
Biological control; Chrysoperla carnea; Cryptolaemus montrouzieri; Nacarina cordillera; Nacarina titan; Plagiomerus.Abstract
We were able to identify three native biological controllers for the white scale, two predators and one parasitoid, which were N. cordillera, N. titan, and Plagiomerus sp., respectively. The percentage of predation efficiency of N. cordillera and the two commercial controllers was compared for a period of 24 hours, and according to the results it can be concluded that Nacarina cordillera, a native species, is much more efficient than the commercial controllers. This is most likely due to a better ecological adaptation to the environment, compared to imported controllers that originated in a temperate climate. Therefore, reproduction of populations of Nacarina is recommended, because they have a high potential to control the pest. One might think that N. cordillera also has a high commercial potential for the control of other scale species in the American tropics.
