Pest-management
Guides
Ceraeochrysa cubana
green lacewing
Ceraeochrysa cubana is a green lacewing species widely distributed across the Americas, from the Caribbean and Middle America through South America. Larvae are voracious polyphagous predators important for biological control of agricultural pests. The species exhibits high genetic diversity in agroecosystems and shows associative learning capabilities in immature stages.
Coleophora parthenica
Russian Thistle Stem Miner Moth
Coleophora parthenica is a case-bearing moth introduced to western North America as a biological control agent for invasive Russian thistle (Salsola spp.). Native to arid regions of North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, it was intentionally released in California, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Arizona, and Hawaii. The species has proven ineffective as a biocontrol agent due to natural enemy pressure and phenological asynchrony with its host plant. Adults are creamy-white, and larvae are orange, approximately 17 mm at maturity.
Crambus tutillus
sod webworm
Crambus tutillus is a sod webworm moth in the family Crambidae, described by McDunnough in 1921. It is univoltine with a life cycle tightly regulated by photoperiod and temperature. Larvae develop through nine instars, overwintering as diapausing eighth instars, with adults emerging in mid-May and reproducing through June and July. The species exhibits an unusual adaptive response where early instar growth rates increase as daylength decreases, synchronizing development with seasonal food availability.
Eteobalea
Eteobalea is a genus of small moths in the family Cosmopterigidae, established by Hodges in 1962. Some authors treat it as a synonym of Stagmatophora. Species in this genus are root miners, with larvae feeding internally on plant roots. Eteobalea serratella has been investigated as a biological control agent for yellow toadflax (Linaria vulgaris) in agricultural systems.
Hemerobiidae
Brown Lacewings
Hemerobiidae is a family of Neuropteran insects comprising approximately 500 species in 28 genera, commonly known as brown lacewings. Adults are typically yellow to dark brown in coloration, with some species exhibiting green hues. They are small insects, with most species having forewings 4–10 mm in length, though some reach up to 18 mm. Both larvae and adults are predatory, feeding primarily on aphids and other soft-bodied insects. The family is distinguished from the similar Chrysopidae (green lacewings) by wing venation patterns, specifically the presence of numerous long veins with two or more radial sectors and forked costal cross veins. Some species have been employed as biological control agents, including Micromus tasmaniae which is commercially bred for pest management.
Limonius quercinus
Oak Click Beetle
Limonius quercinus, commonly known as the Oak Click Beetle, is a species of click beetle in the family Elateridae. The species is distributed in northeastern North America, with records from Ontario, Canada and Vermont, United States. It is one of several Limonius species studied for pheromone-based trapping methods in agricultural pest management research.
Melanotus piceatus
click beetle, wireworm
Melanotus piceatus is a North American click beetle species in the family Elateridae. Adults are moderate-sized (11–12 mm), elongate, and dark red-brown to black. The species has been studied for its sex pheromone chemistry, with females producing (2Z,6E)-farnesyl acetate as the primary attractant compound. Larvae inhabit soil for extended periods, leading to a multiyear life cycle. Adults are active above-ground in spring and summer, with peak flight activity from May through June.
Monolexis fuscicornis
Monolexis fuscicornis is a parasitoid wasp in the family Braconidae, subfamily Doryctinae. It has been documented as a larva-pupa parasitoid of the wood-boring beetle Trogoxylon impressum, a pest of fig plants in Turkey. The species represents a potentially significant biological control agent for managing bostrichid beetle infestations in agricultural settings.
Ophiomyia chondrillae
Ophiomyia chondrillae is a species of leaf-mining fly in the family Agromyzidae, described by Spencer in 1986. The species is known as a specialized herbivore of Chondrilla juncea (rush skeletonweed), a perennial weed of Eurasian origin that has become invasive in North America and Australia. It has been investigated as a potential biological control agent for this weed. The specific epithet reflects this host association.
Poecilus chalcites
Poecilus chalcites is a predaceous ground beetle in the family Carabidae, commonly found in agricultural systems and croplands across North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. The species is recognized for its role as a biological control agent, feeding on multiple crop pests including corn rootworm, corn earworm, and cutworm species. Sexual dimorphism in foretarsus shape allows straightforward sex identification: males possess a heart-shaped proximal foretarsus, while females have a thinner structure. Laboratory rearing studies have established protocols for maintaining colonies, though laboratory-reared adults typically fail to reproduce.
Polynema
fairyflies, fairy wasps
Polynema is a genus of fairyflies in the family Mymaridae, comprising approximately 270 described species. These are among the smallest known insects, with adults typically measuring less than 1 mm. The genus is taxonomically challenging, currently treated as a conglomerate of poorly defined related groups classified into subgenera including P. (Polynema), P. (Doriclytus), and P. (Dorypolynema). Members are idiobiont endoparasitoids of insect eggs, attacking hosts across multiple orders including Hemiptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Orthoptera, Psocoptera, and Odonata. The genus has cosmopolitan distribution with significant diversity in the Neotropical, Palaearctic, and Oriental regions.
Pteromalidae
Pteromalidae is a large family of chalcidoid wasps containing approximately 3,450 described species in about 640 genera. The family underwent major taxonomic revision in 2022, when it was split into 24 families due to recognition of its polyphyletic nature; the remaining Pteromalidae now comprises 8 subfamilies. Members are predominantly parasitoids of other insects, with life history strategies spanning solitary to gregarious, ectoparasitoid to endoparasitoid, and primary parasitoid to hyperparasitoid. Several species are important biological control agents of agricultural and nuisance pests.
Tupiocoris
Tupiocoris is a genus of plant bugs in the family Miridae containing approximately nine described species. The genus includes both herbivorous and predatory species. Tupiocoris notatus is a Solanaceae-specializing herbivore with documented genome-level research on host plant transcriptional responses. Tupiocoris cucurbitaceus is a generalist predatory mirid studied as a potential biocontrol agent for tomato pests in Argentina. Species within this genus show divergent feeding strategies, with some functioning as herbivores and others as omnivorous predators.