Let Nature Help

All species—including insects—have natural enemies. IPM uses natural enemies or biological controls to manage pests. The most common natural enemies are predators and parasitoids. A predator is an organism that eats another living thing. For example, a ladybug is a predator that will eat an aphid. A parasitoid is an organism that slowly feeds off another organism in order to grow into an adult. One example of parasites used in IPM is mini-wasps which are harmless to humans and which will feed off a variety of insect pests before eventually killing them.