Natural enemies/biotic agents (predators and parasites)

a. Predators:

• They consume several to many prey over the course of their development, they are free living, and they are usually as big as or bigger than their prey.
• Common predators include lady beetles, rove beetles, many ground beetles, lacewings, true bugs such as Podisus and Orius, syrphid fly larvae, mantids, spiders, and mites such as Phytoseiulus and Amblyseius.

b. Parasitoids (parasite-like):

• A parasitoid is an organism that spends its larval stage in or on another organism, also known as a host.
• Host death is what makes parasitoids different from other parasites, who do not necessarily kill their host, such as ticks or lice.
• The adult parasitoid leaves the host to find mates and new hosts to lay her eggs.
• Bathyplectes, Trichogramma, Encarsia, Muscidifurax, Spalangia, and s are some of the most important parasitoids studied or used in agricultural systems.