Hugo C. Arredondo Bernal and Luis A. Rodriguez-del-Bosque (eds.),
Mundi Prensa Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico, 2008,
423 pp., $36.00 (є28.00), ISBN: 978-968-7462-65-3

It is easy too think of biological control as a practice whose activity is centered in the United States or Western Europe. To get a more complete picture of this form of pest management, we need to focus our sights slightly south. Mexico has a 70-yr history of biological control against numerous pests, complete with many successes. Ever since my first visit to Mexico, I have been amazed at the array of laboratories, both government and private, at which a number of species of parasitoids or entomopathogens are produced and distributed for use against a variety of pests. It often comes as a surprise to many of us (and to many in Mexico as well!) how well developed the Mexican infrastructure is for biological control; in many ways, they are well ahead of the United States. This volume illustrates very thoroughly much of the country's biological control effort over the past 70 yr and the successes that have accompanied the investment and focus on biological control.

The book includes 34 case histories of biological control of pests of importance in Mexico. The book begins with a prologue and a brief introduction and then follows with the cases organized very nicely into in five sections—basic crops, industrial crops, horticultural crops, fruits, and natural resources. Each of the sections contains chapters addressing projects against a specific pest or pest complex. Most chapters are organized in a standard format, with an introduction, biology and distribution of the pest, control methods, tables with lists of arthropod natural enemies and entomopathogens, final considerations or conclusions, and an extensive list of literature cited. What makes the book even more germane is that those target pests from Mexico that are addressed are also major pests in many other countries of the world. For example, the case histories include projects against the complex of crambid stemborers of maize and sugarcane, the heliothine complex, boll weevil, diamondback moth, fruit flies, and an extensive list of sternorrhynchan pests of citrus and other fruits and nuts. There is also a chapter on biological control of water hyacinth (the only weed project included). The chapters discuss the efforts in Mexico, but also place the case histories into an international context as well. This further increases the scope and value of the book.

This is a very thorough compilation of a very rich history of the discipline. The list of 67 authors includes many of the country's foremost and visible practitioners of biological control, who hail from 17 universities and government institutions (e.g., Sanidad Vegetal, INIFAP) around the country, plus (curiously) one contributor from Russia.

I really have only a few critical comments: (1) because all the text is in Spanish, an English abstract for each chapter would have made the book even more useful outside Mexico and Latin America and (2) some illustrations of the pests or natural enemies would have added greatly. I recognize that the target audience was primarily the practitioners in Mexico, but this book has value well outside the country's borders. I also recognize that adding plates of photos also adds costs, but even locating a block of plates in the middle of the book would have been a nice addition.

This book is a first-rate production, with very nice attention to detail provided by the authors and editors. I praise the editors, Arredondo and Rodriguez, for what had to be a monumental task. Given the effort made in compiling all of the information into this one volume, I would suggest they (or their successors in the Mexican Society for Biological Control) already consider an update 10 yr from now and begin planning. Although some programs will be discussed as complete successes 10 yr from now, many of the pests will still require consideration, and new pests and approaches will gain attention from Mexican biological control practitioners. For instance, with a new interest in the value of natural areas of Mexico, the future of biological control in this country will include more projects involving control of invasive weeds and insects in national parks and biosphere reserves to complement the focus on pests of agricultural crops. As the discipline of biological control changes over time in response to new and emerging pests as well as cultural and economic changes, it will be of value for biological control practitioners throughout the world to observe and learn from our colleagues in Mexico. The present volume will aid us in doing so.

Robert N. Wiedenmann
Department of Entomology,
University of Arkansas,
Fayetteville, AR 72701,
E-mail: rwieden@uark.ed
 

Environmental Entomology
Vol. 38, No. 4, August 2009, Page 1344 – 1345