biological control agents

Question 1

name 6 biological control agents

Answer 1

introduce a herbivore (moth)
a natural predator (ladybird)
a parasite (wasp encarsia)
a pathogenic microorganism (myxomatosis virus)
sterile males (no offspring)
pheromones (hormone)

moths - eat pest plant
ladybirds - control population on aphids
wasp encarsia - lays eggs in whitefly eggs to reduce population
myxomatosis virus - kills rabbit population
sterile male - no offspring - numbers fall
pheromones - hormones attract fe/males to collect & kill reducing population

Question 2

advantage of biological control

Answer 2

organism only introduced once - reproduce
one cost for introduction
pest specific
pest can’t be resistant
no effect on other animals

Question 3

disadvantage of biological control

Answer 3

takes time to reduce population
not all population killed
expensive if repopulating needed