can be used by distributors, pest-manage-
ment advisory personnel and farmers. The
standard elements of the quality control
guidelines are given in Table 19.2. The tests
should preferably be carried out by the pro-
ducer after all handling procedures just
before shipment. It is expected that the user
(farmer) will only perform a few aspects of
the quality test, e.g. per cent emergence or
number of live adults in the package. Some
tests are to be carried out frequently by the
producer, i.e. on a daily, weekly or batch-
wise basis. Others will be done less fre-
quently, i.e. on an annual or seasonal basis,
or when rearing procedures are changed. In
the near future, flight tests and field-
performance tests are expected to be added
to these guidelines. Such tests are needed to
show the relevance of the laboratory mea-
surements. Laboratory tests are only ade-
quate when a good correlation has been
established between the laboratory measure-
ments, flight tests and field performance.
The quality control guidelines presented
in this chapter are applied by a number of
companies that mass-produce natural ene-
mies in Europe and North America
(Chapters 14 and 15) and are used by others
to compare performance of the same species
of natural enemy produced by different com-
panies (e.g. O’Neil et al., 1998; Luczynski and
Caddick, 2000; Hassan and Wen Qing Zhang,
2001). Depending on the size of the company
and the number of natural-enemy species
they produce, they may apply from one to
more than 20 tests. Understandably, very few
data are made public by the companies,
although extensive exchange of information
of test results took place during the develop-
ment of the quality control guidelines from
1991 to 1998. Nowadays, the biocontrol
industry has developed a ring-testing system268 J.C. van Lenteren et al.
Table 19.1.Natural enemies for which quality-control guidelines have been developed.
Amblyseius(Neoseiulus)degeneransBerlese (Acarina: Phytoseiidae)
Anthocoris nemoralis (Fabricius) (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) Provisional test
Aphelinus abdominalis Dalman (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) Provisional test
Aphidius colemaniViereck (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)
Aphidius ervi (Haliday) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)
Aphidoletes aphidimyza(Rondani) (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae)
Aphytis lingnanensis Compere andAphytis melinusDeBach
(Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae)
Chrysoperla carneaSteph. (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) Provisional test
Cryptolaemus montrouzieriMulsant (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) Provisional test
Dacnusa sibiricaTelenga (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)
Dicyphus hesperusWagner (Hemiptera: Miridae)
Diglyphus isaea(Walker) (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae)
Encarsia formosaGahan (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae)
Eretmocerus eremicus (Rose) (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae)
Eretmocerus mundus Mercet (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) Provisional test
Hypoaspis milesBerlese (Acarina: Laelapidae) Provisional test
Leptomastix dactylopiiHoward (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae)
Macrolophus caliginosusWagner (Hemiptera: Miridae)
Neoseiulus californicus McGregor (Acarina: Phytoseiidae)
Neoseiulus cucumeris(Oudemans) (Acarina: Phytoseiidae)
Oriusspp. (O. aldibipennis, O. insidiosus, O. laevigatus, O. majusculus)
(Hemiptera: Anthocoridae)
Phytoseiulus persimilisAthias-Henriot (Acarina: Phytoseiidae)
Podisus maculiventrisSay (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) Provisional test
Trichogramma brassicaeBezd. (= Trichogramma maidis)
(Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae)
Trichogramma cacoeciaeMarchal (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae)
Trichogramma dendrolimiMatsumura (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae)