Natural pest control saving billions

3 Sep 2020
Wasp
A parasitic wasp (biological control agent) injects an egg into a pest caterpillar. The wasp will develop inside the caterpillar, eventually killing it.

Biological control of insect pests – where ‘natural enemies’ keep pests at bay – is saving farmers in Asia and the Pacific billions of dollars, according to University of Queensland-led research.

Dr Kris Wyckhuys from UQ’s School of Biological Sciences said biological control involved the careful release of an exotic natural enemy from a pest's native habitat.

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