Lacewings in the Crop Environment
P. McEwen, T. R. New, and A. E. Whittington, Editors
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K.
2001, 546 pp.
Price: $130, hard cover
ISBN: 9-780521-772174
Generalist predators are an important source of mortality to
numerous crop pests and are an integral and often underestimated component of
agroecosystems. Lacewings are a major constituent of most generalist predator
communities in cropping systems, and an understanding of their ecology and
natural history is critical to their use in biological control. Lacewings in
the Crop Environment is the most complete and impressive treatment available
on biological control with lacewings. It ties aspects of the phylogenetics,
physiology, and natural history of Chrysopidae, Hemerobiidae, and
Coniopterygidae together with the underlying theme of biological control.
Although the applied aspects of lacewing ecology are implicit
in the title, many of the chapters focus on basic principles of the insects’
physiology and ecology that would appeal to scientists with a more general
interest in the biology of this group. The book is divided into four general
sections that are devoted to the natural history of lace
wings, surveys of lacewing assemblages in agroecosystems, practices involved
with biological control using lacewings, and case studies of biological control
using lacewings.
The first part of this book is devoted to the systematics and
ecology of lacewings, complete with keys and illustrations to the subfamilies of
Coniopterygidae, Hemerobiidae, and Chrysopidae. Furthermore, general
descriptions and distributions for adults in genera associated with biological
control are provided and occasionally are accompanied by illustrations. Although
this book does not contain keys to the genera and species of lacewing adults,
this section is well referenced and provides an excellent first step for
identifying specimens. Larvae are addressed in a separate chapter, and
illustrations and keys are available for the limited number of species for which
the preimaginal stages have been described. The final chapters of this section
focus on many aspects of ontogeny, diet, habitat requirements, and general
ecology of this group. This is the least "applied" section of the book
and provides an excellent background on lacewing natural history, information
that ultimately forms the basis of good biological control.
A significant effort must have gone into preparing the next
section of the book, which addresses the presence and prevalence of lacewing
species in many of the world’s crops and forests. Biological control in field
crops is addressed in the first chapter, and important characteristics of
lacewings that frequently occur in field crops are discussed. Just about
everything that is grown commercially, but not considered a field crop, is
presented in amazing detail by Ferene Szentkirályi in the next two chapters.
For each system, a list of lace-wings species that occur in the crop is
presented, as well as the relative abundance of each species. Also, biological
control programs and the impact of lacewings on key pests of each system are
discussed whenever information was available.
Factors and practices that influence the success and failure
of biological control programs with lacewings are outlined in the third part of
the book. Detailed reviews of mass production and release techniques,
nutritional requirements and artificial diets, interactions of released
lacewings with elements in the agroecosystem, and their compatibility with other
pest management strategies are included here. This section of the book balances
the discussion between the results of past research and identification of key
areas that will shape the future of biological control with lacewings. For
example, considerable attention is given to the mass production of lacewings for
augmentation biological control and the interactions of lacewings with
transgenic insecticidal crops.
Although considerable literature on biological control using
lace-wings is available, there are still informational gaps about the importance
of certain groups (more or less any lacewing not bearing the generic epithet Chrysoperla),
and the role of lacewings as predators in certain important crop systems. The
fourth section of the book addresses that informational void with detailed
discussion of recent research involving the behavior and ecology of lacewings
and their implementation as biological control agents. Most studies reported
here focus on determining the biological control potential of lacewings
(primarily endemic species) on crops or in geographic regions where their
assemblages are not well studied. In many ways, this section of the book
outlines research that will serve as the basis for future biological control
programs.
Practitioners of biological control and integrated pest
management should strongly consider adding Lacewings in the Crop Environment
to their libraries. This book would also be a valuable reference for
entomologists with a general interest in lacewings because many chapters focus
on aspects of lacewing biology that only indirectly pertain to biological
control. Another aspect of this book that I found particularly useful was its
international perspective. Information on lacewing biological control programs
and natural history has been compiled for many regions of the world, adding to
the relevance of this composition.
In conclusion, I commend the authors and editors for the
tremendous effort that must have gone into producing this magnificent review.
This book is likely to be indispensable to neuropterists and the biological
control community for many years to come.
Jonathan G. Lundgren
Department of Entomology
University of Illinois
320 Morrill Hall
505 S. Goodwin Ave.
Urbana, IL 61820
American Entomologist
Vol. 49, No.3, Fall 2003
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