Mon 15 Feb 93 23:20
By: Helen Fleischer

The following is from an undated clipping my mother in law sent me.  I thought
folks here might find it of interest. I think it was clipped from the New York
Times.  --Helen

Wasps vs. Weevils
   A team of scientists from a Federal agricultural research laboratory in
Texas says that tiny black wasps imported fr om Mexico may greatly reduce the
damage to the cotton crop caused by boll weevils. This approach would also
reduce the use of pesticides.
    Dr Edgar G. King, director of the Subtropical Agriculture Research
Laboratory of the Agricultural Research Service in Weslaco, Tex., said the
wasps wiped out 96 percent of young boll weevils on one- and two- acre test
plots without an y help from pesticides.   This allowed the plants to produce 3
to 14 times more cotton than plots without the wasps.  T he wasp, Catolaccus
grandis, has been more effective than other natural predators because it
attacks the insect on the ground rather than on the plant.  The wasp seeks out
buds infested with weevil larvae that fall to the ground.  It then
 lays it own eggs inside the buds and when a wasp hatches, it eats the boll
weevil larva.
    Timing is also important, "It's critical to knock down boll weevil
populations early in the season, before they hav e a chance to develop and lay
more eggs," Dr King said.
    The use of wasps, in combination with judicious use of pesticides, could
provide farmers with a comprehensive appro ach to controlling pests, he said.

 * Origin: Three Mausketeers (1:109/172)