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Title: THE NEED FOR EFFECTIVE MARKING AND TRACKING TECHNIQUES FOR MONITORING THE MOVEMENTS OF INSECT PREDATORS AND PARASITOIDS

Author
item LAVANDERO, BLAS - LINCOLN UNIV, AUST.
item WRATTEN, STEVE - LINCOLN UNIV, AUST.
item Hagler, James
item JERVIS, MARK - CARDIFF UNIV, UK

Submitted to: International Journal of Pest Management
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/28/2003
Publication Date: 9/1/2004
Citation: Lavandero, B., Wratten, S., Hagler, J.R., Jervis, M. 2004. The need for effective marking and tracking techniques for monitoring the movements of insect predators and parasitoids. International Journal of Pest Management 50: 147-151.

Interpretive Summary: Tracking the movement of insect predators and parasitoids in their natural habitat is essential for understanding their basic biology, demography, and behavior. A wide variety of markers have been used to assess insect population dynamics, dispersal, territoriality, feeding behavior, trophic level interactions, and other ecological interactions. The ideal marker should persist without inhibiting the insect's 'normal' biology. Furthermore, the marker should be environmentally safe, cost effective, and easy to use. In this special edition of the International Journal of Pest Management, we review the current state of knowledge regarding marking insect natural enemies. We provide examples of the various marking techniques and document the advantages and limitations of each marking technique.

Technical Abstract: Predators and parasitoids move through the landscape at a wide range of rates and over a broad range of spatial scales. Understanding the dispersal characteristics of such 'beneficials' is of crucial importance for classical, augmentative, inundative and conservation biological control. It is a key practice, following the release of 'classical' (exotic) and augmentative (indigenous) biological control agents, to assess whether they have become successfully established, and also to what extent the agent has spread from the release points. It is important in conservation biological control to understand the role that natural enemy movements play in the improvement of pest control achieved through the provision of pollen, nectar, shelter and/or alternative prey/hosts. Other aspects of predator and parasitoid movement pertinent to biological control are the role refugia play in influencing, via natural enemy movements, control of pest population numbers. In these areas and others, some form of marking and/or tracking of insect predators and parasitoids is usually required so that movements can be studied. This special issue considers the usefulness and limitations of marking and tracking techniques, through up-to-date reviews written by an international team of researchers who are actively involved in the study of predator and parasitoid ecology.