Insect Rearing Techniques for Biological Control Programs, a Component of Sustainable Agriculture in Brazil

SIMPLE SUMMARY: This review describes the advances in BC for use in open fields in Brazil. These advances make our country a model for this type of pest control, especially since 1980, with the development of improved rearing techniques. In association with private companies, the use of BC has grown more than in the rest of the world, advancing by about 10–15% each year. ABSTRACT: This article describes the importance of rearing insects, whether on a small scale for research or a large scale for mass rearing, for use in biological control (BC) programs with macro-organisms. These inter- or multidisciplinary research programs are necessarily long-term and depend on rearing techniques for their complete development. Some successful examples of BC in Brazil are presented, including case studies of Trichogramma spp. These required broad bioecological studies that provided the basis for both mass rearing and transfer of the necessary technology to farmers. This has allowed Brazil to occupy a leadership position in biological control in “Open Fields”. For example, about three million ha are being treated with Trichogramma galloi (a native parasitoid), and about three and a half million ha with Cotesia flavipes (an exotic parasitoid) to control Diatraea saccharalis, the sugarcane borer. These natural enemies are produced by commercial firms, or by laboratories in sugar and alcohol plants themselves, in the case of C. flavipes.