Biological pest control, when one first sees it, must seem terribly complex. What with all those fresh terms filling our minds and having to grasp novel ideas like quelling our expectations of instakill-satisfaction, and focusing our biological pest controls strategies such as better identifying our pests and acting proactively. These complexities, however, are common to pest control as a whole for the most part so the biological part of the equation doesn’t really add a new layer. Still, using living organisms to control other living organisms worries many. They think to themselves that they must be an entomologist or bug scientist to really succeed at biocontrol. It’s just not so.
Entomology plays a very minor role in common-use biocontrol. Most of what you need to know to follow the rules and play the game right are learned before we ever enter high school. In fact, aside from specific knowledge of a certain pest, grades K-12 pretty much teach us everything we will need to know to do this. The hard part isn’t science-dependent. The hard part is enduring the changes we must embrace such as learning to scout for pests (which should happen regardless of pest control methodology), and to think and work proactively. The understanding of insects and other entomology doesn’t really go beyond the basics.
Knowing that an insect has six legs while a mite or spider has eight is helpful. Knowing that some insects undergo a compete metamorphosis while others undergo an incomplete metamorphosis can aid you. Understanding the difference between an egg, a larva, a pupa, and an adult — the four stages of complete metamorphosis — is good to know. Even deeper nuggets of wisdom, like realizing that temperatures and other environmental variables play a big role in the speed of pest development just aren’t that big a deal when it comes to biocontrol success. These are simple bits that, perhaps with a little help with terminology, are simple to grasp on an as-needed basis. The need, as a requirement, for an entomology degree never even enters the picture.
A relationship between entomology and IPM exists, of course, but it’s an optional embrace. You don’t have to go there in order to succeed. A little preparation, some good facts, as-needed, paying attention, a basic plan, and common-sense and logical thinking are all that you need to win the game.
