Biocontrol

WSU researchers confirmed the first discovery of a new wasp in the U.S. that is a natural enemy of the spotted-wing drosophila, a harmful invasive pest.

A new fungus strain bred by WSU researchers could provide a chemical-free method for eradicating mites that kill honey bees.

WSU Scientists Use Flower Power to Combat Orchard Menace Apple orchards are intricate webs involving a delicate balance between trees, soils, water, insects, and more. To manage the pests that can potentially damage a crop of apples, growers often apply pesticides. There are several problems associated with pesticide use, though, including risks to environmental and […]

QUINCY, Wash. – Field-scale trials of four different perennial legumes seeded in orchard alleys to fix nitrogen will be on display during a field tour being organized by Washington State University’s Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources. The field tour will take place on Tuesday, Aug. 11, from 4 to 5:30 p.m., at Warren […]

PULLMAN, Wash. — Washington State University Extension is asking farmers for help in finding some live adult cereal leaf beetles. First found in Washington in 1999, the crop pest has been identified in Spokane, Pend Oreille, Stevens, Ferry, Lincoln, Adams, Grant, Kittitas, Franklin, Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield, Asotin, Whitman, Lewis and Clark counties. Both adults […]

PULLMAN, Wash. — Washington State University Extension is seeking information from farmers who have infestations of cereal leaf beetles in their fields to aid a statewide biocontrol project. Biocontrol is the deliberate use of one living organism to control another. The cereal leaf beetle is a newcomer to the state, according to Diana Roberts, WSU […]

PULLMAN, Wash. — Biocontrol research — a pest management strategy designed to keep agricultural pests in check with their natural enemies — has just received a boost from one of the region’s largest providers of credit to agriculture. Washington State University’s entomology department has received a $50,000 gift from Northwest Farm Credit Services of Spokane […]

PULLMAN, Wash. — Four species of beetles imported from Europe seven years ago are happy homesteaders in Grant County. They are feasting on the leaves and roots of an aggressive weed known as purple loosestrife. Within three years of the insects’ introduction, stands of the aquatic plant have begun to disappear. “It’s been very dramatic,” […]

On his frequent flights to Washington D.C., R. James Cook sits on the left side of the airplane so he can see the family farm where he grew up when the plane begins a right turn over Moorhead, Minn., for its approach to Minneapolis-St. Paul. Cook is pleased the farm is still in the family, […]