On the Part played by Parasites in the Control of Insects living in protected Situations

Abstract

Among the injurious insects with which the entomologist attempting to utilise the methods of biological control has to deal, there are many which live in such a way that a considerable proportion of their population is practically inaccessible to parasites and predators, even during the stages when they are attractive to their enemies. Insects of this type are not infrequently transported in their animal or vegetable food materials into other territories, escape attention during the process of inspection, and develop in their new homes into devastating pests. The Mediterranean Fruit Fly, the Codling Moth, and the European Corn Borer are familiar examples of this class of pest.