The reported male-produced aggregation pheromone of the brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), identified as

Egg parasitoids of the exotic invasive brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål), were investigated using lab-reared fresh (live) and frozen (killed) lab-reared sentinel egg masses deployed for 72h on foliage in three habitats—woods, orchard, and soybean field—in Maryland, USA, in summer 2014. Four native hymenopteran species, Telenomus podisi Ashmead (Scelionidae), Trissolcus euschisti (Ashmead) and Tr. brochymenae Ashmead (Scelionidae), and Anastatus reduvii (Howard) (Eupelmidae), developed and emerged from H. halys eggs. One exotic parasitoid, Trissolcus japonicus (Ashmead), emerged, providing the first known occurrence of this species in North America. Native parasitoids emerged from frozen eggs significantly more often than from fresh eggs (89.3% of egg masses and 98.1% of individual eggs), whereas the exotic Tr. japonicus did not show a similar difference, strongly suggesting adaptation to H. halys as a host by Tr. japonicus but not by the native species. Parasitoids were habitat-specific: all three Trissolcus species were significantly more likely to occur in the woods habitat, whereas Te. podisi was found exclusively in the soybean field. Further investigations are required to elucidate evolving host-parasitoid relationships, habitat specificity, and non-target effects of Tr. japonicus over the expanded range of H. halys in North America.

Using quantitative PCR that amplified a prey-specific mtDNA 214 bp amplicon from the COI mitochondrial gene of the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotar

Human society is anchored in the global agroecosystem. For millennia, this system has provided humans with copious supplies of nutrient-rich food. Yet, through chemical intensification and simplification, vast shares of present-day farmland derive insufficient benefits from biodiversity and prove highly vulnerable to biotic stressors. Here, we argue that on-farm action centered on biological control can effectively defuse pest risk by bolstering foundational ecosystem services. By harnessing plant, animal and microbial biodiversity, biological control offers safe, efficacious and economically-sound plant health solutions and coevolved options for invasive species mitigation. In recent years, its scientific foundation has been fortified and solutions have been refined for myriad ecologically brittle systems. Yet, for biological control to be mainstreamed, it needs to be rebooted, intertwined with (on- and off-farm) agroecological tactics and refurbished - from research, policy and regulation, public-private partnerships up to modes of implementation. Misaligned incentives (for chemical pesticides) and adoption barriers further need to be removed, while its scientific underpinnings should become more interdisciplinary, policy-relevant, solution-oriented and linked with market demand. Thus, biological control could ensure human wellbeing in a nature-friendly manner and retain farmland ecological functioning under global change.

The genus Diabrotica has over 400 described species, the majority of them neotropical. However, only three species of neotropical Diabrotica are considered agricultural pests: D. speciosa, D. balteata, and D. viridula. D. speciosa and D. balteata are polyphagous both as adults and during the larval stage. D. viridula are stenophagous during the larval stage, feeding essentially on maize roots, and polyphagous as adults. The larvae of the three species are pests on maize, but D. speciosa larvae also feed on potatoes and peanuts, while D. balteata larvae feed on beans and peanuts. None of these species express a winter/dry season egg diapause, displaying instead several continuous, latitude-mediated generations per year. This hinders the use of crop rotation as a management tool, although early planting can help in the temperate regions of the distribution of D. speciosa. The parasitoids of adults, Celatoria bosqi and Centistes gasseni, do not exert much control on Diabrotica populations, or show potential for inundative biocontrol plans. Management options are limited to insecticide applications and Bt genetically modified (GM) maize. Other techniques that show promise are products using Beauveria bassiana and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora, semiochemical attractants for monitoring purposes or as toxic baits, and plant resistance.