Biocontrol News and Information
CABI Publishing

Announcement

December 1996, Volume 17 No. 6

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Are you producing a newsletter, holding a meeting, running an organization or rearing a natural enemy that you want other biocontrol workers to know about? Send us the details and we will announce it in BNI.

Crop Protection Compendium

CAB INTERNATIONAL have developed the Crop Protection Compendium to give fast, friendly access to the latest scientific information as a basis for practical pest management on CD-ROM. Module 1 - South-East Asia and Pacific will be launched in January 1997.

Coverage includes 1000 major pests (including arthropods, pathogens, weeds, nematodes and vertebrates, and quarantine pests) and their natural enemies, many of global importance. Information is given on 150 crops of the world and 150 countries of the world.

Detailed, illustrated data on each pest provides: text, written by a specialist, on taxonomy and nomenclature; hosts; geographical distribution; biology; detection and identification; movement and dispersal; pest significance; control; phytosanitary measures; names and synonyms in different languages; taxonomic position and group description; illustrations, including symptoms, of pests, pathogens and weeds; database information on host range, geographic range and symptoms; global and regional distribution maps; a simple tool for pest diagnosis, by narrowing-down through country, crop and symptom; and an interactive glossary.

Other features include: a bibliographic database of references on pest management, with abstracts, with hyper-links from every word; illustrated diagnostic keys, including the CABIKEY; information on pesticide active ingredients, including uses, environmental impact, and usage in selected countries of SE Asia; and selected agricultural and pest management data for all countries of the world.

This is a uniquely comprehensive global compilation. The Crop Protection Compendium on CD-ROM meets the needs of extension officers, research scientists, pest management specialists, quarantine officers, the agrochemical industry, plant breeders, lecturers, students, crop managers, growers and farmers, policy makers, and development assistance agencies.

Technical requirements are: an IBM-compatible PC (minimum 486DX) with Windows 3.1 or Windows 95; minimum 8Mb memory (16 Mb recommended); 20 Mb available on hard disk, VGA 256 colours recommended; CD-ROM drive.

Price: Developed Countries: US$ 2000; Special developing country price: US$ 500 (A list of developing countries is available from CABI).

A trial disc of selected data is available free.

For further details contact: Product Manager - Crop Protection, CAB INTERNATIONAL, Wallingford, Oxon, OX10 8DE, UK; e-mail: marketing@cabi.org; fax: +44 1491 826090; or Pam Sherman, Marketing Manager, CAB INTERNATIONAL, 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA; e-mail: cabi.nao@cabi.org; fax: +1 212 686 7993.

Controlled Delivery

The separate developments of controlled droplet application (CDA) by rotary atomisation and microbial pesticides have both provided the means to manage pests without mismanaging the environment. However, the combination of these techniques has proceeded largely unnoticed and uncoordinated over the last ten years, due mainly to the diversity of the farming systems, crops, pests and microbials involved.

Now, for the first time, progress has been reviewed by Micron Sprayers Limited, inventors of the CDA concept. A review of work carried out relevant to the use of CDA for application of biological products, by Duncan Rhind, offers workers in the field a properly referenced summary of what has been achieved so far. In four sections, covering Bacillus thuringiensis, entomopathogenic fungi, viruses and mycoherbicides, the review covers the whole spectrum of agriculture, horticulture and forestry. The dominant theme which emerges is the importance of good control over droplet size and coverage when applying biological products, hence the suitability of CDA as an application technique.

A copy of the review document is available, free of charge, from: Micron Sprayers Limited, Three Mills, Bromyard, Herefordshire HR7 4HU, UK; fax: +44 1885 483043.

Phytoseiid Bibliography

A bibliography* on the use of phytoseiid mites as biological control agents has been produced by Toumas Kostiainen and Marjorie Hoy of the University of Florida. It provides a comprehensive list of publications from 1960 to 1994 and, to help in locating publications on specific topics, has a prey species index, effects of pesticides on phytoseiids index, a species description index, a general subject index and an author index. It should make all the information available in a single, easily accessible volume.

To obtain a free copy, contact: M.A. Hoy, Department of Entomology and Nematology, PO Box 110620, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-0620, USA; e-mail: mahoy@gnv.ifas.ufl.edu; fax: +1 352 393 0190.

*Kostiainen, T.S.; Hoy, M.A. (eds) (1996) The Phytoseiidae as biological control agents of pest mites and insects: a bibliography (1960-1994). University of Florida, 359 pp.

New IOBC Working Group

The Neotropical Regional Section of the International Organization for Biological Control is organizing a Working Group on the biological control of corn pests, with emphasis on Spodoptera frugiperda. Initially, the intention is to prepare a diagnostic of the research conducted in each country of the Neotropical Region. Those working (or interested in working) on the subject are invited to join the Working Group.

For more information contact: Dr Ivan Cruz, Chairman, GT EMBRAPA/CNPMS, Caixa Postal 151, 35701-970 Sete Lagoas, MG, Brazil; e-mail: ivancruz@cnpms.embrapa.br; fax: +55 31 773 9252.

Bt in Denmark

A new publication* on Bacillus thuringiensis in Denmark has been produced. Key subjects covered are: the taxonomy and characterization of B. thuringiensis; occurrence in Denmark; interaction with other insect pathogens; and environmental fate. B. thuringiensis is present worldwide, and the variants commonly used as microbial pesticides are present in the natural environment. The effects of their use are primarily related to the high doses used in commercial applications and should be assessed on a case by case basis.

Available from: Miljobutikken, Danish Environmental Protection Agency, Strandgade 19, Copenhagen DK 1401, Denmark; fax: +45 33 92 76 90.

*Hansen, B.M.; Damgaard, P.H.; Eilenberg, J.; Pedersen, J.C. (1996) Bacillus thuringiensis: ecology and environmental effects of its use for microbial pest control. Environmental Project No. 316, Ministry of Environment and Energy, Copenhagen, Denmark, 126pp. ISBN: 87-7810-526-9, price DaK155, $30.

Delémont Changeover

Dr Klaus Carl, Scientist-in-Charge of the IIBC European Station in Delémont, Switzerland, retired on 1 October. He joined the station as librarian in 1958 and was promoted to entomologist the following year. For most of his time in Delémont he specialized on agricultural and horticultural pests, and was responsible for the research that led to the introduction of many important biological control agents, such Cotesia flavipes against sugarcane borers in Barbados and C. kazak against Helicoverpa armigera in New Zealand, as well as many effective natural enemies now established in Canada. He is succeeded by his long time colleague Dr Dieter Schroeder as Scientist-in-Charge.