Micro wasps

Suzanne Kitto <suzanne.kitto<-at->armouries<.>org<.>uk> writes

>Has anyone any experience of the use of micro wasps to tackle their
>moth issues?

I would be sceptical of this as an adequate treatment.  I'm assuming
this is where you create an ecosystem where a predator feeds on a
pest species.  You may have some success with it initially, but it
does nothing to address the original problem of why the pest species
was attracted in the first place, or how it can survive in the
environment you have.  You are unlikely to completely eliminate the
pest species by this method, and even if you do, there is nothing
deterring the pest from re-introducing itself once the predator has
starved to death.  You could also end up with a lot of corpses to
clean up, which are food for even more pests.

Australia and New Zealand both have long histories of where this
idea has gone badly wrong.  That said, I've never heard of it
before, and know nothing about it, so let's hear what others have to
say about it as well.

Valerie Tomlinson
Conservator
Auckland War Memorial Museum
Tamaki Paenga Hira
The Domain
Private Bag 92018
Victoria Street West
Auckland 1142
New Zealand
+64 9 306 7070ext 7304


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 29:20
                 Distributed: Saturday, October 3, 2015
                       Message Id: cdl-29-20-004
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