We are examining conservation biological control as a tool for controlling root maggots (Delia spp.) on cole crops in the Pacific Northwest. We manipualted populations of arthropod predators, primarily carabid and staphylinid beetles, in a series of press experiments conducted in field cages and measured the impact of the predator community on Delia survivorship. Field cage experiments were also coupled with on-farm comparisons of predation rates in conventional fields, where predator densities are typically low, with those in organic fields, where predator communities are more diverse. In simple laboratory arenas we have found that many of the predators that feed on Delia eggs also eat one another, so intraguild predation may be common in the field. Intraguild predation and other interactions such as omnivory and competition may reduce the overall level of predation on root maggots, a possibility that we plan to examine in subsequent field experiments.
Species 1: Diptera Anthomyiidae Delia radicum (cabbage maggot, root maggot)
Keywords: conservation biological control, predators
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