BIOLOGICAL CONTROL

AGENTS: PARASITOIDS,
PREDATORS AND
PATHOGENS.
 Parasitoids
 Parasitic insects (also known as parasites and parasitoids) are
insects whose immature stages (larvae) develop by feeding on or in the
bodies of their host arthropods, which are usually other insects.

 Host: The organism attacked and used as a food source by the

parasite. The recipient of the protagonist's action. Equivalent to a prey
used by a predator.

 Unlike true zoological parasites, parasitic insects kill their hosts.

 Parasitic insects are unique, because it is the immature stages that

kill the host.

 Nearly all parasite immatures develop on or in a single host.

 Parasitoids
 Parasites are holometabolous, having complete development
(egg, larval, pupal and adult stages).

Adult parasites are free living; some species will feed on hosts
(predators), in addition to ovipositing in or on the hosts.

 In the world of parasites, only females are significant players, as

they are the ones that find and attack hosts. For some species, males
are not known to exist.

 The number of species of parasites is unknown and speculative,

ranging from an estimate of 800,000 to as many as 25% of all
insects.
 Parasitoids types
Parasitoids are usually defined by:

 Where the egg is laid (inside the host = endoparasite;

outside the host = ectoparasite).

 The feeding habit of the immature stage (egg, larval,

pupal parasite, etc.).

 Whether one or more parasite progeny emerge from the

host (solitary vs. gregarious).

 Host-parasitoid interactions.

 
 Parasitoids types
The feeding habit of the immature stage:
 Egg parasite: Parasite adult attacks the host egg, and the parasite
progeny emerge from the egg.

 Egg-larval parasite: Parasite adult attacks the host egg, but the
parasite progeny emerge from the larva.

 Larval parasite: Parasite adult attacks the host larva, and the
parasite progeny emerge from the larva.

 Larval-pupal parasite: Parasite adult attacks the host larva, but

the parasite progeny emerge from the pupa.

 Pupal parasite: Parasite adult attacks the host pupa, and the
parasite progeny emerge from the pupa.
 Parasitoids types
Place of oviposition:
 Ectoparasite (External Parasite): Parasite develops externally on
the host with its mouthparts inserted into the host's body.

 Endoparasite (Internal Parasite): Parasite larva develops inside

the host's body.

Number of parasites’ progenies that emerge from the

host :
 Parasite species load: The number of parasite species that
usually attack a host species.

 Hosts range: The number of host species that are usually

attacked and utilized successfully by a parasite species.
 Parasitoids types
Number of parasites’ progenies :
 Gregarious parasite: Multiple parasite eggs are deposited, the
larvae feed together on a single host, and multiple parasite offspring
emerge.

 Solitary parasite: Only one parasite egg is deposited per

oviposition event and generally only one progeny emerges from the
host.

 Polyembryonic parasite: Many (up to several thousand)

parasites emerge from a host, having arisen from asexual division of
one or two parasite eggs. Restricted to four families of parasitic
Hymenoptera (Braconidae, Dryinidae, Encyrtidae, Platygastridae).
 Parasitoids types
Number of parasites’ progenies :

 Multiparasitism: A single host is attacked by more than one

species of parasites, and the second parasite species feeds on the
original host, not the other parasite species.

 Superparasitism: Several females of one species of parasite

attack the same host, or one female oviposits more than one egg,
with only one egg laid at a time. Often, only one progeny will
survive. This is not the same as gregarious parasitism, where a
single female lays many eggs in one oviposition bout.
 Parasitoids types
 Host-parasite interactions:
 Primary parasite: The parasite attacks and develops in or on a
host, and that host is not another parasite.
 Cleptoparasite: A parasite that requires a host to be parasitized
already.
 Facultative hyperparasite: Can develop either as a
hyperparasite in a host already parasitized by a primary parasite, or
it can develop as a primary parasite in an un-parasitized host.
 Heteronomous parasite (Autoparasite and Adelphoparasite):
Females develop as primary parasites of homopterans (whiteflies,
scales), but males develop as a hyperparasite of female primary
parasites of homopterans.
 Heterotrophic parasite: The female is a primary parasite of
homopterans, but the male is an obligate parasite of a completely
different host, such as eggs of Lepidoptera.
 Parasitoids types
 Host-parasite interactions:
 Idiobiont parasite: Parasite prevents continued growth by the host.
Hosts are often paralysed. Often egg, pupal, and adult parasites.

 Koinobiont parasite: Parasite allows continued growth and

development of the host. Host not paralysed. Egg-larval, larval-pupal
parasites, and larval parasites. The parasite larva either suspends
development as a first instar, or the parasite larva avoids feeding on
vital organs until late in development.

 Obligate hyperparasite: The hyperparasite can only develop as a

parasite of a primary parasite.

 Secondary parasite (Hyperparasite): The parasite attacks a host that

is another parasite.  
 Parasitoids taxonomy
 Although parasitism is found in several insects orders, primary
orders of parasites are Hymenoptera and Diptera.
 The greatest diversity of parasites is found in Hymenoptera.
 The most important parasitic families within Hymenoptera order
are: Dryinidae, Bethylidae, Chrysididae and wasps.
 Several Diptera families have members that are parasitic:
Acroceridae, Bombylidae, Cecidomyiidae, Cryptochetidae, Phoridae,
Pipincluidae, Tachinidae, and Sarcophagidae.
 Rare representative taxa are also found in the Coleoptera,
Lepidoptera and Neuroptera.
 Strepsiptera are true zoological parasites, as they do not kill their
hosts.
 Parasitoids-hosts interactions
 All parasites go through a series of processes by which they find,
attack and utilize their hosts.

 In order to understand better parasitoids-hosts interactions it is very

important to analyse the following main precesses: Habitat selection,
host location, host acceptance, host suitability, and host regulation.

 It is important to remember that there is a great overlap between

processes, and that some of the processes are less important for
particular parasites or in some settings.

 Each process is mediated by a multitude of cues (signals).

 Parasitoids-hosts interactions:
Habitat selection
 Habitat selection is the first of the processes that affect host
utilization.

 The importance of habitat selection cues to biological control is that

they serve to get the parasite to the appropriate habitat in which they
may find the target pest, and thus have a greater chance of successfully
controlling the target pest.

 Parasites that respond to specific habitat cues also will show some
degree of habitat fidelity. The fidelity to particular habitat types means
that the parasites will not be likely to attack non-target species that may
be found in other habitats.
 Parasitoids-hosts interactions:
Habitat selection
 Many parasites use cues from the habitat itself, independent of
whether hosts are present or not.

 The habitat selection cues are linked to the female's reproductive

state, as it has been seen that, before the female parasite's eggs are
mature, she is repelled by the same chemicals from the same plants
(habitats).

 Numerous examples exist of parasites being attracted to the

habitat of their hosts.

 These cues serve to get the parasite into an appropriate habitat, in

which hosts might be likely to be found.
 Parasitoids-hosts interactions:
Habitat selection
 Cues serve to orient a parasite to a habitat, so most known habitat-
related cues are long distance.

 Cues used for habitat selection are usually visual, or volatile odours:

Visual cues: Drill-and-sting strategy in which the parasitoid drills its

ovipositor through the stem of a grass, ovipositing into an enclosed
lepidopteran pupa.

 Volatile odours or chemical cues: Chemicals existing in a certain

habitat give some indications about the presence of the parasitoid host
that emitted them.
 Parasitoids-hosts interactions:
Host location
 In this process, the parasite is responding to cues that indicate the
presence of a host, but only after the parasite is in the appropriate
habitat.

 The cues serve to get the parasite from the "neighbourhood" of the
host (the habitat), to the specific location of the host.

 These cues tend to be more specific, intimate, and shorter distance

than habitat cues.

 Host-location cues can be chemical odours, visual (including

movement), sound (or vibration), or radiation.
 Parasitoids-hosts interactions:
Host location
 The cues can be from the host itself, by-products from the host,
plants or other habitats used by the host, or even from other host-
associated organisms.

 Host’s cues: Sex/aggregation pheromones, sound, vibrations from

the enclosed hosts, movement, or the increase of habitat temperature
induced by host’s emitted radiation.

 Host by-products: By-products of host feeding or other behaviour

are often used as host-finding cues by a variety of parasites. Examples
include frass produced by corn earworm and stemborers, including
sugarcane borer, and honeydew produced via homopteran insects
feeding.
 Parasitoids-hosts interactions:
Host location
 Host-plant cues: Examples include terpenes released by pines, but
only when being fed on by the host, specific damage induced by the
host (but not by artificial damage), hosts that reaches the stage in
which they are normally attacked by the host.

 Other associated organisms: Parasites respond to cues produced

not by the hosts, but by other organisms that are found in association
with the host. The utility of these cues depends on how intimate are
the other organisms with the parasite's host.
 Parasitoids-hosts interactions:
Host acceptance
 Host acceptance is the yes-or-no decision made by the parasite
once it has found a host.

 The cues used include chemicals on the host surface or in the

hemolymph; and size, shape, age, or texture of the host. Often, it is a
series of cues, both physical and chemical, that lead to acceptance.

 Several egg parasites (Trichogrammatidae and Scelionidae) are

sensitive to size and shape of their egg hosts while Ichneumonids are
attracted to 3-dimensional cylindrical shapes, but only after
responding to chemical odours.
 Parasitoids-hosts interactions:
Host acceptance

 Host-movement cues indicating acceptability of hosts are seen in a

variety of parasites.

 For several Trichogrammatids the movement of the developing

embryo within the egg signals the age (and unsuitability) of the host.

 Some Ichneumonids will not attack immobilized hosts, suggesting

that movement is required to tell hosts from non-hosts.

 Parasitoids-hosts interactions:
Host suitability
 Once hosts are found and accepted, they still must be
physiologically and nutritionally suitable for the parasite progeny to
develop successfully.

 Hosts must provide the parasite progeny with a safe, nutritious

place to develop.

 Host size will affect parasite development, often larger hosts may
produce larger parasites, because of an abundance of food for the
progeny and to quicker progeny development.

 Hosts too small to provide parasites with sufficient nutritional

resources will lead to the death of parasite progeny.
 Parasitoids-hosts interactions:
Host suitability
 Idiobiont parasites are limited to the resources the host provides
when attacked while koinobiont parasites are not limited by the size
or even the stage of the host attacked.

 Host age will also affect suitability. Eggs and pupae that have
already developed somewhat may be less suitable for development,
simply because of the difficulty for the parasite to metabolise their
tissues.

 Hosts, often, are protected by a variety of defences, such as the

immune system response of encapsulation of parasite progeny that
should be overcome by the parasitoid.
 Parasitoids-hosts interactions:
Host regulation
 The host's immune response must be overcome to prevent the host
from killing the parasite eggs or larvae.

 This process overlaps with host location especially host defences

such as the immune response.

 The parasite must be able to regulate the host's development and

immune systems.

 The parasite must control moulting of larval host, so that it doesn't

pupate before the parasite completes development.
GROUP II
Predators
 Predators
 Predation can be defined as a trophic level interaction in which one
species derives energy from the consumption of individuals of
another species.

 A predator is considered an entomophagous species that generally

consumes more than one prey individual to complete its development.

 Some parasitoids host-feed as adults which could be considered a

type of predation.

 Over 16 orders of insects contain predaceous members, in

approximately 200 families. Including spiders and mites, there are
probably in excess of 200,000 species of arthropod predators.

 Many crops contain a rich assemblage of predators, and it is not

uncommon to find 300-500 species of predators in a given crop.
 Predators
 Among the non-insect arthropods, spiders (Araneae) represent the
largest, most diverse group. Spiders have been little utilized in
biological control.
 Mites (Acari) have a number of predaceous members, most found
in the family Phytoseiidae. Mites have been used in a number of
biological control projects.
 Monophagy: A highly specialized prey range, the predator may
feed on one or a very limited number of species within the same
genera.
 Oligophagy: A semi-restricted prey range of a predator. For
example, aphidophagous predators feed primarily on aphids preys, or,
genera of coccinellids feed primarily on whiteflies or scales.
 Polyphagy: A broad prey range, may include plant materials
(fluids, nectars, pollen), insects and fungi, a generalist predator.
 Predators’ characteristics
Generally speaking the most common features of insect predators are:
 kill and consume more than one prey organism to reach maturity;
 Relatively large size compared to prey;
 Predaceous as both larvae and adults;
 Larvae are active with sensory and locomotory organs;
 Except for predatory wasps that store prey for immature stages, prey
are generally consumed immediately.
Frequency of individual prey items in the diet may be influenced by:
 Prey environment;
 Prey preferences;
 Competition with other predators;
 Suitability of prey.
 Preys location and capture
Strategies used by predators to locate and capture preys include the
following:
 Random searching: The predatory bug, Podisus maculiventris,
searches bean plants without using cues, but did not search areas
repeatedly once a prey was found.
 Directed searching: Supposing a certain capacity of orientation to
objects in the microhabitat. Movement may be guided by features of
the environment that increase chances for encountering prey.
 Active searching: Use of visual cues and other stimuli to orient to
prey at a distance.
 Ambushing: Waiting for prey to approach within a striking
distance then with their raptorial legs (praying mantids) they clasp
their preys.
 Trapping: Neuropterans prepare conical pits in loose sand, larvae
wait at the bottom with large sickle shaped jaws.
 Attracting: Lightning bugs, flashing of one species to attract males
of another. Females then consume males.
 Predatory insect groups
The major groups of predaceous insects belong to the following
orders: Coleoptera, Dermaptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera,
Mantodea, Neuroptera, Orthoptera and Thysanoptera.  

 Coleoptera:

 Coleoptera (beetles and weevils) is the largest order in the class

Insecta.

 Many Coleoptera species are herbivores, others live on fungi but

many beetles are predators. There are even few parasitic beetles.

 The most important Coleoptera predaceous families are the

following: Carabidae (ground beetles); Cicindelidae (tiger beetles),
Staphylinidae (rove beetles); Lampyridae (fireflies); Cantharidae
(soldier beetles) and Coccinellidae (ladybird beetles).
 Predatory insect groups
 Dermaptera:

Members of the order Dermaptera are recognized by pincers at the

tip of the abdomen. These structures are used to hold prey while it is
being consumed.

 The predaceous species feed on soft bodied insects (e.g. aphids, leaf
hoppers, larvae of Coleoptera and Lepidoptera).

 The most important Dermaptera predatory families are: Forficulidae

(spine tailed earwigs); Labiduridae (striped earwigs) and Labiidae
(little earwigs).
 Predatory insect groups
 Diptera:

 Some flies are predators of other arthropods (e.g., robber flies), but
most of them are external parasites (e.g., mosquitoes and deer flies).

 Families that contain predaceous species are: Asilidae (robber

flies), Empidae, Dolichopodidae (longlegged flies), Rhagionidae,
Tabanidae, Tipulidae, Chamaemyiidae, Cecidomyiidae (midges), and
Syrphidae (hover flies). Species in the later three families have been
used in biological control.

Hemiptera:

 Hemiptera is a large, cosmopolitan order of insects, comprising

some 67,500 known species in three suborders: Auchenorrhyncha,
Sternorrhyncha and Prosorrhyncha.
 Predatory insect groups
 Hemiptera:
The most relevant Hemiptera predatory families are: Miridae (plant
bugs); Nabidae (damsel bugs), Anthocoridae (insidious flower bugs),
Reduviidae (assassin bugs), Phymatidae (ambush bugs), Lygaeidae
and Pentatomidae (stink bugs).
 Hymenoptera
 Hymenoptera is one of the larger orders of insects, comprising
sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants.
 Females of Hymenoptera typically have a special ovipositor for
inserting eggs into hosts or otherwise inaccessible places, often
modified into a stinger.
 The most important Hymenoptera predaceous groups are:
Sphecidae (sphecid wasps); Vespidae (paper wasps, yellow jackets);
Eumenidae (mason and potter wasps) and Formicidae (ants).
 Predatory insect groups
 Neuroptera:
The insect order Neuroptera includes the lacewings, mantidflies,
antlions, and their relatives. The order contains some 4000 species.
 The adults of this order possess chewing mouthparts, and most are
predatory.
 The most important Neuroptera predaceous species belong to the
following families: Chrysopidae (green or common lacewings),
Hemerodiidae (brown lacewings), Mantispidae (mantid-flies),
Coniopterygidae (dusty wings) and Myrmeliontidae (antlions).
 Orthoptera:
The Orthoptera order includes the grasshoppers, crickets and
locusts.
 The most important Orthoptera predaceous species are included in
Gryllidae (tree crickets) which are Omnivorous on soft bodied insects,
 Predatory insect groups
Thysanoptera:
Most species of Thrips feed on plant tissues (often in flower heads),
but some have been reported to feed on phytophagous mites, thrips,
whiteflies, and lepidopteran eggs.
The most important Thysanoptera predatory families are:
Phlaeothripidae and Aelothripidae (Banded thrips).
 Mantodea:
 Mantids have elongate bodies that are specialized for a predatory
lifestyle: long front legs with spines for catching and holding prey, a
head that can turn from side to side, and cryptic coloration for hiding
in foliage or flowers.
The most important predaceous family is Mantidae (praying
mantid).
 Predator-prey interactions
The sequence of behaviours used by predators to locate prey is similar
to that for parasitoids. In general, behaviours are not as clearly defined
for predators as for insect parasitoids.
 Prey habitat location:
 For predators associated with ephemeral habitats (e.g. agricultural
crops), adults must locate habitats with prey through seasonal
movements into and out of cropping systems.
 Olfactory and visual cues are likely used by adult predators to
locate suitable habitats.
Volatile kairomones and synomones are known to be used as
attractants by selected insect predators.
 For some predatory species, a blend of compounds, including
volatiles from the plants in the habitat as well as prey volatiles, are
involved. This blend is called synergistic mixture of plant and prey
derived cues.
 Predator-prey interactions
 Prey location:
 Physical and chemical cues are used by many predatory species to
locate prey. Vision may be important for ambush type predators or
other predators of slow-moving prey. Kairomones can be used for
short range perception of prey.
 Larval predators have evolved various means of locating and
recognizing their prey through phototactic and/or geotactic responses,
vision, olfaction, sound or vibration detection, or physical contact.
 Some larval predators switch from linear movement to area-
intensive searching after they contact prey.
 A predator's previous experience (learning) can influence its
searching behaviour, as well as the type and proportion of prey taken
within an area.
 Predator-prey interactions
 Prey acceptance:
 Once a prey item is contacted, the behaviour used to initiate and
continue feeding on prey.
 Generalist predators attack, subdue and consume a wide range of
prey species they encounter.
 The following may influence prey acceptance: size of prey, anti-
predator behaviours of prey, and composition of cuticle.
 Morphological and physiological factors can influence prey
acceptance.
 Size, shape, movement, and external and internal chemical cues of
prey are factors that can be used as stimuli to induce prey acceptance.
 Many insect predators are stimulated to bite or taste a prey
following antennal or palpal contact.
 Predator-prey interactions
 Prey acceptance:
 One underlying physical factor that influences prey acceptance is
the size of prey relative to the predator.
Prey integumentary chemicals (e.g., waxes) may serve as
kairomones or phagostimulants for some predatory species.
 Another aspect of prey acceptance involves prey behaviours and
defences. Some prey (e.g. aphids) kick, run, drop, or fly away, or
exude noxious chemicals when predators approach them.
 Prey preference: The consumption of a prey species in greater
proportion than its relative abundance among possible prey items.
 Prey specificity: Properties of a predator which limit types of prey
attacked, may involve behavioural, spatial, and temporal aspects.
 Predator-prey interactions
 Prey suitability
 Prey suitability can be considered as the influence of the nutritional
composition of the prey on the development, survival, and
reproduction of a predator.
 If prey are not suitable (i.e., they have low nutritional quality), the
predator may reject the prey, or it may continue feeding, but with
detrimental effects.
 The negative effects may include reduced rates of development,
reproduction (fecundity) or survival.
 Prey suitability may or may not be the same for immature and adult
stages of a predatory species.
 Lack of information on prey suitability explains why relatively few
insect predators can be mass-reared successfully, and even fewer can
be reared on artificial diets.
GROUP III
Pathogens
 Pathogens
 Associations between Microorganisms and insects range from
mutualistic associations to those where the microorganism causes
fatal disease in the insect host.

 Infectious insect diseases, usually causing deleterious effects in

the invaded host, occur frequently in insects and often act as
important natural control agents.

 Insect pathogens are most often viewed as microbial insecticides.

 It is very important to distinguish between diseases of insects

caused by pathogens, those that are caused by non-infectious agents
and also to distinguish between pathogenic and non-pathogenic
micro-organisms that live in symbiosis with insects.
 Pathogens
 Entomogenous: Organisms growing in or on the bodies of
insects; usually connotes a parasitic or other intimate symbiotic
relationship.
 Entomophagous: Insectivorous; the consumption of insects and
their parts.
Entomophilic: Associations between insects and other organisms,
e.g. plant, microorganisms, Protozoa, and nematodes.
 Horizontal transmission: Transmission of a pathogen from
infected individuals to conspecific individuals within a generation or
overlapping generations in a season.
 Vertical transmission: Transmission of a pathogen from one
generation of host to the next.
 Transovarial (or transovarian) transmission: Transmission
from one generation to the next via the egg. The pathogen is
transmitted within the ovary of the infected female and usually is
found in the cells of the embryo.
 Pathogens
Transovum transmission: Transmission from one generation to
the next via the egg. The pathogen can be on the surface of the egg
and ingested upon hatch of the neonate host, or can be within the
host embryo (transovarial transmission). Transovarial transmission is
a special case of transovum transmission.
Invasion/Infection: Invasion is the entry of a microorganism into
the host body. Primary invasiveness is a property of pathogenic
microorganisms. Infection implies that the pathogen enters the body
of the host, usually the cells, and be able to reproduce to form new
infective units. Simply ingesting a pathogen does not imply
infection.
 Latent infection: Unapparent infection; the pathogen is in a non-
reproductive phase and a pathogen-host equilibrium is established.
Pathogenicity and virulence: Pathogenicity is the ability of an
 Non-pathogenic organisms &
insects associations
 Technically, the living together of dissimilar organisms regardless
of the result of such an association is called symbiosis.

 Every insect/microorganism association is a symbiotic association

and this would include all associations discussed within the subject
area of biological control.

 When examining insects and diagnosing insect diseases, non-

pathogenic organisms are often encountered and may be confused
with true insect pathogens.

 There are mainly two kinds of insect/non-pathogenic organisms

associations: Casual and mutualistic associations.
 Non-pathogenic associations
 Casual associations:
 Insects harbour microorganisms that occur in their immediate
environment. Bacteria, fungal conidia, free living Protozoa and other
organisms adhere to the cuticle of insects and may pass through the
digestive tract.
 Such associations are largely accidental and are usually neither
harmful nor beneficial to either insect or microorganism.
 Mutualistic associations:
 Most groups of organisms (viruses, bacteria, fungi, and Protozoa)
have mutualistic associations with insects. These associations may be
either intracellular or extracellular and are usually associated with
insects that have some nutritional difficulty.
 The microorganisms provide a required nutritional compound or an
enzyme necessary for converting an unusable into a usable food product.
 Although there have been attempts to manipulate mutualistic
associations as a means of biocontrol, the potential of this approach
appears limited at this time.
 Non-infectious diseases of insects
 Generally speaking we can distinguish between non-infectious
diseases caused by abiotic agents and infectious diseases caused by
pathogens.
 It is of paramount importance to be able to distinguish between
these two kinds of infections that can cause insects death in order to
assess accurately and precisely the efficiency of biological control
means.
 Physical injuries, chemical injuries, nutritional deficiencies,
genetic abnormalities, and neoplasms may result in a disease state.
 With the exception of sterility, non-infectious diseases are seldom
considered a component of a biological control program.
 When evaluating individual insects or a population of insects for
the underlying causes of disease, researchers should be aware of
several possibilities other than infectious diseases.
 Physical injuries:
 Insects are naturally somewhat protected from injury by the
cuticle, tracheal system, and physiological adaptations.
 Injuries occur and include distension (blockage), trauma such as
abrasions/contusions/ concussions/crushing, and open wounds.
 These injuries may include blood loss, tissue changes, and
exposure to pathogens.
 Extreme cold and heat, as well as solar radiation and drought, can
harm insects, often figuring strongly in the increase or decline of
insect populations.
 Chemical injuries:
 Chemically poisoned insects can have the appearance of pathogen-
infected insects.
 Chemical injuries:
 Plant secondary compounds can poison non-adapted hosts, as can
toxins produced by microorganisms.
 Toxins are sometimes a factor in the virulence of
entomopathogens.
 Insecticides may be physical poisons, protoplasmic poisons,
metabolic inhibitors, hormone mimics, stomach poisons, or
neuroactive agents.
 Most synthetic insecticides are neurotoxins.
 Genetic diseases:
 All hereditarily transmitted biochemical, physiological, and
morphological characters which are harmful for the organism are
genetic diseases.
 Genetic diseases:
Genetic diseases may be classified as:
 Lethal factors: mutants or deficiencies.
 Sterility factors, usually chemical or irradiation mutations of males,
have been used successfully in biological control programs.
 Structural alterations include any malformations such as winglessness,
deformed body parts, supernumerary appendages, etc.
 Tumors.
 Gynandromorphs are inter-sex mutants that are usually sterile.
 Neoplasms:
 They are abnormal masses of tissue, the growth of which exceeds and
is uncoordinated with that of normal tissue and persists in the same
excessive manner after cessation of the stimulus that evoked the change.
 Etiologies may include carcinogens, inflammation, trauma, and
viruses.
 Biological agents:
 Predators that don't kill insect prey outright may leave wounds for
which the same responses occur as for other physical injuries.
 Parasites may cause irritation and destruction of tissues, resulting
in mechanical injury, for example, piercing of the host integument by
female parasitoids, and surface feeding or feeding on (usually non-
vital) tissues.
 Emergence of endoparasites usually causes death of the host.
 Parasitoids may also cause paralyzation and other physiological
injury due to competition for nutrients, or parasite castration.
 Nutritional diseases:
 Deviations from basic conditions needed for attraction to and
survival on a food source can lead to nutritional disease.
 Nutritional diseases:
 Improper balance of nutrients, amino acids, proteins, fats,
carbohydrates, vitamins, inorganic ions, etc. can cause various
symptoms of nutritional disease.
 Limited feeding reduces growth, development, and reproduction.
 When insect populations outbreak, over-utilization of the food
source can result in starvation of not only the outbreak species but
also of other species utilizing the same food sources.
 Symptoms in larvae include severely affected growth rates and
development.
 Often adults have deformed wings, and mating and egg production
may be seriously affected.
 Infectious agents are living units that must invade the insect host in
order to initiate an infection. Unlike parasites and predators, pathogens
do not always kill the hosts. Infection usually involves reproduction of
the agent.
 Invasion of the host may be dermal, body opening, oral by
feeding/drinking, or introduced by stings of contaminated or infected
parasites.
 The specific characteristics of the infective stages of pathogens
greatly influence how they contact and infect their hosts.
 The infectious agents responsible for transmission of the pathogen are
susceptible to many environmental factors: Few can survive more than a
few hours of direct sunlight. Others may be particularly susceptible to
dry conditions, high temperatures, freezing, and many chemicals.
 Survival of the infective stage of insect pathogens outside the host is a
major factor in the development of microbial insecticides.
All insect pathogens have a physiological host range in which they can
potentially survive and reproduce.
 Some pathogen species may be very host specific, while others may
be able to infect a wide range of insect species.
 The host range of a pathogen is especially important when
considering a non-indigenous pathogen for introduction into a new
habitat.
 Sub-lethal infections are not uncommon and these may include
behavioural and developmental changes as well as a decrease in the
fecundity of infected adults.
 Insects are infected by an incredibly large number and diversity of
pathogen species. Most insect pathologists believe that there are actually
more species of insect pathogens than there are species of insects.
 The major pathogen groups containing species that infect insects are:
viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoans, microsporidia, and nematodes.
 Use of pathogens in insect biocontrol
Insect pathogens are used in biological control in at least three
different ways: inundative applications, inoculative releases,
management of naturally occurring pathogens, and introduction of
exotic pathogens as classical biological control agents.

 Inundative applications:

They are those in which insect pathogens are applied in large

quantities with the goal of killing as many individuals of the pest
population as quickly as possible.

 Pathogens used in this manner are called microbial insecticides.

 Replication of the pathogen in the host and production of additional

infectious propagules may be desirable, but is not usually required for
microbial insecticides to be effective.
 Inoculative applications:
 Inoculative applications are those in which small quantities of
insect pathogens are applied or released into an insect host
population.
 The goal is to produce infections in at least a few hosts, which
will, in turn, produce numerous infectious propagules that will infect
many more susceptible hosts.
 Introduction of exotic pathogens as biocontrol agents:
 Hundreds of exotic parasitoids and predators have been introduced
into different countries as classical biological control agents however
few exotic species of pathogens have been intentionally introduced.
 Difficulties in identifying and isolating insect pathogens, along
with regulatory uncertainties, have contributed to the under-
utilization of insect pathogens as exotic biological control agents.
 Management of naturally occurring pathogens:
 Insect pathogens are important components of the natural enemy
complex of many insect species, including pest species.
 Some groups of pathogens, such as microsporidia, may not always
maintain host insect densities below economic thresholds, but they
suppress the rapid increase of pest populations.
 Insects pathogens and are often responsible for the decline of
populations that have exceeded the economic threshold.
 In most cases the major goal for managing naturally occurring
insect pathogens is to elicit an epizootic earlier in the season, before
the host densities have exceeded the economic threshold.
 This can be accomplished by inoculative releases of the pathogen
or by changing cultural and phyotosanitary practices to promote an
epizootic.
GROUP IV
 Type of pathogens
 Insect viruses:
Viral diseases have been found in 13 insect orders and most likely
occur in all orders. Viruses that are primarily or exclusively found in
insects are currently placed in 12 families (Miller, 1998):
 DNA Viruses: Baculoviruses (Nuclear polyhedrosis viruses- NPV
and Granuloviruses-GV), Ascoviruses, Iridoviruses, Parvoviruses,
Polydnaviruses and Poxviruses.
 RNA Viruses: Reoviruses (Cytoplasmic polyhedrosis viruses),
Nodaviruses, Picorna-like viruses and Tetraviruses.
 Bacterial pathogens:
They can be divided into two broad categories, non-spore-forming
bacteria and spore-forming bacteria.
Although most of the species isolated from diseased insects are
non-spore-forming, spore-forming bacteria in the genus Bacillus are
the most important from the standpoint of biological control.
 Types pathogens
 Fungal pathogens:
 Entomopathogenic fungi are able to invade their insect hosts by
penetrating directly through the cuticle.
The fungal spore first adheres to the cuticle.
 Under appropriate conditions the spore germinates, penetrates the
cuticle of the host and enters the hemocoel.
 Fungal reproduction occurs in the hemocoel of the insect host.
 As the hemocoel becomes filled with hyphal bodies, the insect
usually dies and the fungus continues to develop saprophytically.
 After the body of the dead insect is filled with mycelia, fruiting
structures emerge from the cadaver and produce infectious spores.
 Dead insect has the consistency of a moist loaf of bread and,
depending on the colour of the spores or conidia, may appear white
or some darker colour.
 Types pathogens
 Fungal pathogens:
 Tanada and Kaya (1993) listed 8 classes, 13 orders and 57 genera
that contain entomopathogenic species of fungi.
 There are five major groups of fungi: the Flagellate fungi or
Chytridiomycetes, the Oomycetes (also flagellate but also not true
fungi), the Zygomycetes, the Ascomycetes, and the Basidiomycota.
 The Zygomycota and the Ascomycota contain common insect
pathogens that are also useful in biological control programs.
 Microsporidia:
 Microsporidia are important primary pathogens of insects.
 Their best use will probably be as augmentatively released or
classical biological control agents, not as pesticides.
 Microsporidia:
 The only microsporidian ever registered as a microbial pesticide
(in the USA) is Nosema locustae, a pathogen of grasshoppers.
 Two other microsporidian species that are known to control
populations of pest insects: Nosema fumiferanae and Nosema
pyrausta.
 Protozoa:
 Protozoa are the most taxonomically diverse group of insect
pathogens.
 Protozoa range in their interactions with insects from
commensualists and mutualists, to plant and animal pathogens
vectored by insects, to acute insect pathogens.
 Protozoa:
 Of some 14,000 described species of Protozoa, about 500 are
pathogens of insects. Many are chronic pathogens that may debilitate
a host without producing obvious disease symptoms but some
species are extremely virulent, causing stunted growth, slow
development, and early death.
 Entry into the host is typically by ingestion, but some can invade
through the cuticle.
 Some species may be transovarially transmitted from infected
females to their offspring.
 Species that invade the cells of the host are usually found in the
cell cytoplasm and are typically more pathogenic than extracellular
species.
 Some protozoans exhibit tissue tropism, infecting only certain
tissues or organs, others are systemic.
 Protozoa:
 No toxins have been found to be associated with protozoa in insects.
 Death or debilitation of infected hosts may be, for example, the
result of competition for metabolites, disruption of normal cell and
tissue function, or blockage of the gut or other organs by extracellular
species.
 The insect-pathogenic Protozoa are currently recorded from four
major groups: Amoebas, Gregarines, Flagellates and Ciliates.
 Nematodes:
 Some entomogenous nematodes have characteristics that allow them
to be considered with the pathogens.
 The most important insect pathogenic nematodes for biological
control are very small and use mutualistic bacteria to kill the host.
 Nematodes:
 Although nematode species in at least 20 families are primary or
facultative parasites of insects, those in the order Rhabditida have
been most exploited as biological control agents.
 Species in the genera Steinernema and Heterorhabditis
(Steinernematidae and Heterorhabditae, respectively), are
particularly amenable to mass production and application in a variety
of pest systems.
 Entomopathogenic nematodes enter the host via natural body
openings or through the cuticle.
 Some species utilize an anterior stylet or a tooth to rasp the cuticle
and gain entrance into the hemocoel.
 Others ingress by ovipositing on the host food source and the eggs
hatch in the host midgut.
 Effects of nematode parasitism on the hosts can be sterility,
reduced fecundity, reduced mobility and life span, behavioural and
morphological changes, and death.
 Thank you for
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