If you’ve been following this blog for a bit, you might recall that the beneficial insect habitat plots I’ve been helping to establish and monitor with my colleagues Betsy Lamb and Brian Eshenaur are located on the edges of a field of Christmas trees. Once the trees get a bit bigger, we’ll be able to … Continue reading Introducing a new Christmas tree project
I don’t know about you, but this time of year I start daydreaming of all the plants I can’t wait to grow in my garden once it gets warm. The virtual and hard copy seed catalogs that fill my mailbox and my inbox are full of so many beautiful pictures and inviting suggestions. How to … Continue reading Finding plants that feed friendly insects
Thanks to everyone who’s been following the project I’ve been working on with Betsy Lamb and Brian Eshenaur to establish (and document the impacts of) habitat for natural enemies of pests and pollinators (collectively, beneficial insects) around a research planting of Christmas trees! For many people, life does not look the same as it did … Continue reading Conservation biocontrol in the time of COVID-19
Labor Day weekend may be viewed by some as the end of summer, but farmers know that the summer growing (and harvesting!) season is far from over. Similarly, the field projects I’m involved with this summer (read more here and here) are still running. Over the fall and winter I’ll be analyzing data and sharing … Continue reading A summer of biocontrol…in pictures
The Xerces Society is offering a free course on pollinator conservation to be held on November 7th in Basom, NY. The information will be most relevant to farmers and agriculture professionals, and priority for registration will be given to these audiences. Others who are interested in attending may join a waiting list and will be … Continue reading Announcement – Free pollinator course for growers!
At this time of year, glossy catalogs start arriving in my mailbox full of pictures of all the beautiful fruits, vegetables, and flowers that I could grow after the snow melts. What these pictures don’t usually show are the arthropod (insect, mite, and related species) pests that can’t wait to eat what I plant. There … Continue reading If you plant it, they will come: Attracting natural enemies of pests
Definitions of biological control (biocontrol, for short) vary, but biocontrol could be broadly defined as: using beneficial organisms to reduce populations of pest organisms, or to maintain them at sufficiently low levels. The beneficial organism is often called a natural enemy of the pest, or a biocontrol agent. Either the pest or beneficial organism might … Continue reading What is biocontrol?