Importation Biological Control in Ephemeral Crop Habitats

Most documented successes in importation biological control are programs on perennial crops, and much biological control theory derives from these programs. This theory suggests the ideal traits of natural enemies for biological control not only in perennial crops but also in annual crops (i.e., crop plant is destroyed annually; ephemeral crop habitat). Some biological control theory extracted from successes on perennial crops is unsuited for ephemeral crops. This theory then causes ephemeral crops to be generally viewed as poor candidates for importation biological control; it may also be equally incompetent for directing natural enemy conservation and augmentation in these crops. Ephemeral habitats should be used for developing approaches, mechanisms, theory, and principles for effective natural enemies in these habitats. This contention is supported with examples. Insight is drawn from each example and focuses mainly on an alternate view of effective enemy characteristics needed for importation biological control in ephemeral crops.