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Description
This programme looks at the success in the control of pests by enlisting the services of natural predators. Examples shown include the control of pests on sugar cane and on cucumbers where a comple...x programme of biological control has been developed.
This programme looks at the success in the control of pests by enlisting the services of natural predators. Examples shown include the control of pests on sugar cane and on cucumbers where a comple...x programme of biological control has been developed.
| Module code and title: | S323, Ecology |
|---|---|
| Item code: | S323; 08 |
| First transmission date: | 28-05-1974 |
| Published: | 1974 |
| Rights Statement: | |
| Restrictions on use: | |
| Duration: | 00:22:37 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producers: | Jim Stevenson; Edward Milner |
| Contributors: | Peggy Varley; N. W. Hussey; N. E. A. Scopes |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Keyword(s): | Apanteles; Artificially infected; Borer caterpillar; Complex programme; Cucumbers; Opuntia; Pest; Predator; Resistance; Sugar cane; Toxic materials |
| Footage description: | N-W. Hussey introduces the programme. This programme will examine the successful application of biological controls to insect infestations of crops. Shots of a prickly pear cactus Opuntia under heavy attack from caterpillars of the moth Cactoblastis cactorum. Commentary by Peggy Varley explains how this caterpillar was introduced into Australia in 1925 to control the growth and spread of the prickly pear cactus. Shots of Barbados sugar cane fields. Shots of sugar cane plant infested with borer caterpillar Diatraea saccharalis. Commentary by Peggy Varley. Shots of the Commonwealth Institute of Biological Control in Trinidad. Varley explains how they found a natural enemy of the sugar cane borer to act as an effective biological control. Shots of the cabbage white butterfly caterpillar being parasitised by a braconid wasp. Shots of the wasp larvae emerging from the caterpillar. Shots of a braconid wasp Apanteles attacking the sugar cane borer in the laboratory. Shots of Apanteles wasps being released in sugar cane fields to act as a biological control. Shots of cucumbers going through a cucumber packaging plant. Commentary by Peggy Varley. She briefly discusses the economic scale of cucumber production. Shots of cucumbers growing in large greenhouses. Commentary by Peggy Varley lists some of the pests which attack cucumbers. Norman Hussey discusses the problem to cucumber production caused by the red spider mite Tetranychus urticae. Shots of red spider mites. Commentary by Peggy Varley describes the animal and its habits. N Hussey explains why biological control in the form of the predatory mite Phytoseiulus was tried. Shots of Phytoseiulus. Varley describes the animal and its habits. Norman Hussey explains the importance of undertaking damage assessment before a biological control agent is introduced. Shots of experiments on biological control of the red spider mite by Phytoseiulus. N. Hussey explains how parasites and their predators are cultured on bean plants. He demonstrates the process in the greenhouses at the Greenhouse Crops Research Unit. Commentary is by Peggy Varley. Film shots of the greenhouse whitefly Trialeurodes vaporariorum, another cucumber pest. Commentary by Peggy Varley describes the insect and explains how it attacks cucumber plants. She then explains how the parasitic chalcid wasp Encarsia formosa attacks the whitefly. Accompanying film shots. Shots of whitefly pest and its parasite being cultured on tobacco plants in the greenhouse. N. Scopes explains how and why this is done. Commentary continued by Varley. N. Hussey explains his programme of biological control of pests on cucumber plants. Shots of the procedures being carried out against both red spider mites and greenhouse whitefly. Hussey next discusses the chemical controls which are used in conjunction with the biological control programme. Shots of mildew infestation and thunderfly Thrips tabaci. Shots of thunderfly infestation being treated with BHC and diazinon. Shots of a cucumber crop in greenhouse before and after biological controls were introduced. Hussey continues to discuss the merits of biological control. Shots of cucumbers in greenhouse and packed for marketing. Shots of ladybird beetle (family Coccinellidae) eating aphids (order Hemiptera). Commentary by Peggy Varley sums up the merits of biological control. |
| Master spool number: | 6HT/71308 |
| Production number: | 00525_1127 |
| Videofinder number: | 1032 |
| Available to public: | no |
