From a WSU online publication:
SCIENTISTS USE FLOWER POWER TO COMBAT ORCHARD MENACE
Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012
By Brian Clark, WSU College of Agricultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences
INTEGRATING STRATEGIES TO CONTEND WITH PESTS
WSU researchers seek alternatives to pesticides because of several problems associated with pesticide use, including: risks to environmental and human health; cost of the chemicals; equipment, labor and expense needed for application.
Another ill effect is that, in addition to controlling a target insect, a pesticide also may kill insects beneficial to crop health. WSU researchers work to counter that problem by developing and advocating for a broad group of strategies called integrated pest management (IPM).
IPM minimizes use of harsh chemicals in favor of those that are highly selective for target pests. It also employs biocontrol, in which good insects are encouraged by various means to prey upon bad insects that cause agricultural damage.
WENATCHEE, Wash. - Washington State University researchers pioneer alternatives to pesticides for managing agricultural pests. Recent experiments to plant flowers in orchards to attract beneficial predator insects show promise, and funding is being sought to expand testing to commercial orchards.
Doctoral student Lessando Gontijo worked with his mentors, WSU entomologist Betsy Beers and WSU biological control expert Bill Snyder, to set up the experiments. Gontijo came to WSU from his native Brazil to study biocontrol, the control of destructive organisms by use of natural predators, parasites and pathogens.
The team tested the idea that syrphids - more commonly known as flower flies or hoverflies - could be used to control woolly aphids that prey on apple trees. The experiments were funded in part by a grant from WSU’s BioAg program.
PESTICIDE CHANGE TIED TO APHID SURGE
"Growers began noticing an increase in the number of woolly aphids in apple orchards starting in the early 2000s,â€
