16 The Relationship between Results from

Laboratory Product-control Tests and

Large-cage Tests Where Dispersal of Natural

Enemies is Possible: a Case-study with

Phytoseiulus persimilis

S. Steinberg and H. Cain

Bio-Bee Biological Systems Sde Eliyahu, Bet Shean Valley, 10810 Israel

Introduction

The term ‘product control’ for a natural
enemy was defined by Penn et al.(1998) as:

Assurance of the conformity of the product to

acceptable standards of quality through

monitoring procedures applied at the end of

production. Such procedures substantially

increase the probability that the product will be

effective in performing its intended function

but cannot predict performance because of the

highly variable conditions to which the product

may be exposed after the product is shipped.

This definition reflects the idea that because
the aim of a natural-enemy release is pest
suppression, the adopted product-control
standards should be relevant to the intended
use of the natural enemy. Thus terms such as

‘maximal’ or ‘optimal’ quality may need to

be replaced by ‘acceptable quality’ at the

gate of the producer, bearing in mind that

different criteria are appropriate for different

types of biological control programmes (van

Lenteren, 1991).

Van Lenteren and Tommasini (1999) stress

that, if commercial producers of natural ene-

mies are going to apply quality control on a

regular basis, then the characteristics of

product control to be measured should be

few in number but directly linked to the field

performance. They foresee that, in the future,

testing flight and/or field performance of

natural enemies will become a necessity in

order to show the relevance of the laboratory

product-control measurements. Hence, the

latter will only be adequate when a good

© CAB International 2003. Quality Control and Production of Biological Control Agents:
Theory and Testing Procedures (ed. J.C. van Lenteren) 225

Abstract

Most of the quality control guidelines used until now relate to criteria that are measured under labora-
tory conditions. In this chapter, the development of a dispersal test of predatory mites in large cages is
described. The aim of this test is to evaluate dispersal and reproduction capacities of natural enemies
under semi-natural conditions.