Skip to main content
Log in

On the ethics of biological control of insect pests

Agriculture and Human Values Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Of the four types of biological control, (1) natural, (2) conservation, (3) augmentation, and (4) importation), ethical concerns have been raised almost exclusively about only one type: importation. These concerns rest largely on fears of extinction of animal species. Importation biological control is a cost-effective alternative to chemical control for basic food crops of resource-poor farmers. Regarding the other types of biological control, natural biological control is not consciously manipulated by humans. Augmentation has some technical concerns, but is generally an environmentally-sound, viable alternative to chemicals and offers local employment. Conservation can help empower farmers to preserve native species, while saving labor and money and reducing chemical insecticides.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abawi, G., and H. D. Thurston (1994), “Effects of organic mulches, soil amendments and cover crops on soil-borne plant pathogens and their root diseases: A review,” in APADO slash/mulch: How farmers use it and what researchers know about it (pp. 89–99). Ithaca: CIIFAD(Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development) and CATIE (Centro Agron´ omico Tropical de Investigaci´ on y Enseñanza).

    Google Scholar 

  • Andow, D. A., C. P. Lane, and D. M. Olson (1995), “Use of Trichogramma in maize - estimating environmental risks,” in M. T. Hokkanen and J. M. Lynch (eds.), Biological control benefits and risks (pp. 101–118). Cambridge, UK: Heikki Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bellows, T. S., Jr. et al. (15 authors) (1992), “Biological control of ash whitefly: A success in progress,” Calif.Agric. 46(1): 24, 27–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bellwood, P. (1991), “The Austronesian dispersal and the origin of languages,” Scientific American 265(1): 88–93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bentley, J. W. (1989), “What farmers don't know can't help them: The strengths and weaknesses of indigenous technical knowledge in Honduras,” Agriculture and Human Values 6(3): 25–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bentley, J. (1994), “Stimulating farmer experiments in non-chemical pest control in Central America,” in I. Scoones and J. Thompson (eds.), Beyond farmer first: Rural people's knowledge, agricultural research and extension practice (pp. 147–150). London: Intermediate Technology Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bentley, J.W.,G. Rodr´ýguez, and A. Gonz´alez (1994), “Science and people: Honduran campesinos and natural pest control inventions,” Agriculture and Human Values 11(2/3): 178–182.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bentley, J. W., J. Castaño-Zapata, and K. L. Andrews (1995), “World integrated pathogen and pest management and sustainable agriculture in the developing world,” Advances in Plant Pathology 11: 247–280.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berry, W. (1990), What are people for? San Francisco: North Point Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bigler, F., ed. (1991), Proc. 5th workshop of the IOBC working group, Quality control of mass reared arthropods. Wageningen, NL, March 1991.

  • Bolaños, F. (1990), “Hidrocarburos halogenados de alto peso molecular,” in El impacto biol´ ogico: Problema ambiental contempor´ aneo (pp. 259–268). México, DF: Universidad Nacional Aut´ onoma de México, Colecci´ on Posgrado.

  • Cate, J. R. (1990), “Biological control of pests and diseases: Integrating a diverse heritage,” in R. E. Baker and P. E. Dunn (eds.), New directions in biological control: Alternatives for suppressing agricultural pests and diseases (pp. 23–43). New York: Alan Liss.

    Google Scholar 

  • Couch, J. A., and S. S. Foss (1989), “Potential impact of microbial insecticides on the estuarine and maine environments,” in M. Laird, L. A. Lacey and E. W. Davidson (eds.), Safety of microbial insecticides (pp. 85–100). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Croft, B. A. (1990), Arthropod biological control agents and pesticides. New York: Wiley-Interscience.

    Google Scholar 

  • Day, W. H. (1981), “Biological control of the alfalfa weevil in the Northeastern United States,” in G. C. Papavizas (ed.), Biological control in crop production (pp. 361–374). Totowa, NJ: Allanheld, Osmun.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeBach, P., and D. Rosen (1991), Biological control by natural enemies. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diamond, J. (1992), The third chimpanzee. New York: Harper Collins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldman, A. (1995), “Threats to sustainability in African agriculture: Searching for appropriate paradigms,” Human Ecology 23(3): 291–334.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gore, A. (1992), Earth in the balance: Ecology and the human spirit. New York: Plume.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gould, F. (1991), “The evolutionary potential of crop pests,” American Scientist 79(6): 496–507.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herren, H. R., and P. Neueneanschwander (1991), “Biological control of cassava pests in Africa,” Annual Review of Entomology 36: 257–284.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howarth, F. G. (1991), “Environmental impacts of biological control,” Annual Review of Entomology 36: 485–509.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoy, M. A., R. M. Nowierski, M. W. Johnson, and J. L. Flexner (1991), “Issues and ethics in commercial releases of arthropod natural enemies,” American Entomologist 38: 172–179.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang, H. T., and P. Yang (1987), “The ancient cultured citrus ant,” BioScience 37(9): 665–671.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunn, E. S. (1977), Tzeltal folk zoology: The classification of discontinuities in nature. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunter, C. D. (1994), Suppliers of beneficial organisms in North America. Sacramento, CA: California Environmental Protection Agency.

    Google Scholar 

  • Janick, J., R. W. Schery, F. W. Woods, and V. Ruttan (1981), Plant science, 3rd edn.San Francisco: W. H. Freeman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jirstr¨ om, M. (1996), In the wake of the green revolution: Environmental and socio-economic consequences of intensive rice agriculture - The problems of weeds in Muda, Malaysia. Lund (Sweden): Lund University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaimowitz, D. (1995), La investigaci´ on agropecuaria y forestal en América Latina relacionada con el manejo de recursos naturales (MRN). San José (Costa Rica): IICA. MS.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kroeber, A. L. (1969 [1939]), “Relations of environmental and cultural factors,” in A. P. Vayda (ed.), Environment and cultural behavior (pp. 350–361). Garden City, NY: Natural History Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lockwood, J. A. (1996), “The ethics of biological control: Understanding the moral implications of our most powerful ecological technology,” Agriculture and Human Values 13(1): 2–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loevinsohn, M. E. (1987), “Insecticide use and increased mortality in rural central Luzon, Philippines,” The Lancet (June 13, 1987): 1359–1362.

  • Mallory, J. P. (1989), In search of the Indo-Europeans: Language, archaeology and myth. London: Thames and Hudson.

    Google Scholar 

  • McKenzie, C. L., and R. L. Byford (1993), “Continuous, alternating, and mixed insecticides affect development of resistance in the horn fly (Diptera: Muscidae),” Journal of Economic Entomology 86(4): 1040–1047.

    Google Scholar 

  • McMurtry, J. A., E. R. Oatman, P. H. Phillips, and G. W. Wood (1978), “Establishment of Phytoseiulus persimilis (Acari: Phytoseiidae) in Southern California,” Entomophaga 23: 175–179.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mendes, R. (1977), Informe sobre salud ocupacional de traba-jadores agr´ý colas en Centroamérica y Panam´ a. Washington, DC: Pan American Health Organization.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, J. C. (1990), “Effects of a microbial insecticide Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki on nontarget lepidoptera in a Spruce Budworm-infested forest,” Journal of Research Lepidoptera 29: 267–276.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murray, D. L. (1994), Cultivating crisis: The human cost of pesticides in Latin America. Austin: University of Texas Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • OTA, Office of Technology Assessment (1995), Biologically based technologies for pest control. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, OTA-ENV-636.

    Google Scholar 

  • Orr, D. B., and D. A. Landis (1994), “Assessment of non-target impacts of Trichogramma brassicae.” Report to USDA Midwest Regional Working Group (NCR-125), October 1994.

  • Page, S. L. J., and J. Bridge (1993), “Plant nematodes and sustainability in tropical agriculture,” Experimental Agri-culture 29(2): 139–154.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearce, F. (1995), “Tropical toxins ruin arctic catch,” New Scientist 147: 7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pimentel, D. (1991), “Diversification of biological control strategies in agriculture,” Crop Protection 10(4): 243–253.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pimentel, D., and N. Goodman (1978), “Ecological basis for the management of insect populations,” Oikos 30: 422–437.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quiroz, C. E. (1993), “Control biol ´ ogico y manejo integrado de plagas,” Agricultura Técnica 43(2): 73–78.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramalho, F. de Sousa, F. M. Marques de Jesus, and J. V. Gonzaga (1990), “T´ aticas de manejo integrado de Pragas em areas infestadas pelo bicudo-do-algodoeiro,” Pesquisa Agrope-cu´ aria Brasileira 25(5): 677–690.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodr´ýguez, G., and J. W. Bentley (1995a), “Experimenting farmers of Honduras: Part I,” Honey Bee 6(1): 3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodr´ýguez, G., and J. W. Bentley (1995b), “Experimenting farmers of Honduras: Part II, pest management,” Honey Bee 6(2): 3–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rola, A. C., and P. L. Pingali (1993), Pesticides, rice productivity, and farmers' health: An economic assessment. Manila: IRRI.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saik, J. E., L. A. Lacey, and C. M. Lacey (1989), “Safety of microbial insecticides to vertebrates - domestic animals and wildlife,” in M. Laird, L. A. Lacey and E. W. Davidson (eds.), Safety of Microbial Insecticides (pp. 115–134). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Pres

    Google Scholar 

  • Sahlins, M. (1996), “The sadness of sweetness: The Native anthropology of western cosmology,” Current Anthropology 37(3): 395–428.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sechser, B. (1989), “New developments in pesticides for IPMin Africa with special reference to cotton pests,” Insect Science and Its Applications 10(6): 815–820.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sherwood, S., and J. W. Bentley (1995), “Rural farmers explore causes of plant disease,” ILEIA Newsletter 11(1): 20–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tefertiller, K. R., V. C. McKee, and V. G. Perry (1991), “Citrus blackfly in Florida: Eradication or bio-control?,” Agricultural Economics 5: 193–209.

    Google Scholar 

  • USDA (1995), “Gypsy moth management in the United Sates. Environmental Impact Statement, Appendix G,” Ecological risk assessment. Radnor, PA: USDA Forest Service.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Driesche, R. G., and T. S. Bellows, Jr. (1996), Biological control. New York: Chapman and Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • V´elez, R. E. (1994), Investigation of the pesticide treadmill in tomatoes with small farmers in the region of the temper-ate valleys of Santa Cruz, Bolivia, and the methodology of introducing IPM approaches. MS Thesis, University of Wolverhampton, UK.

  • Viola, H. J., and C. Margolis (1991), Seeds of change. Washington, DC: Smithsonian.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waage, J. K., and D. J. Greathead (1988), “Biological control: Challenges and opportunities,” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London, Biology 318: 111–128.

    Google Scholar 

  • Way, M. J., and K. C. Khoo (1992), “Role of ants in pest management,” Annual Review of Entomology 37: 479–503.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitten, M. J., and J. G. Oakeshott (1991), “Opportunities for modern biotechnology in control of insect pests and weeds, with special reference to developing countries,” FAO Plant Protection Bulletin 39(4): 155–181.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, E. O., ed. (1988), Biodiversity. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, E. O. (1992), The diversity of life. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zgomba, M., D. Petrovic, and Z. Srdic (1986), “Mosquito lar-vicide impact on mayflies (Ephemeroptera) and dragonflies (Odonata) in aquatic biotypes,” Proceedings of the Third European Congress of Entomology, Amsterdam 3: 532.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bentley, J.W., O'Neil, R.J. On the ethics of biological control of insect pests. Agriculture and Human Values 14, 283–289 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007477300339

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007477300339

Navigation