Takeaways:
- Since the early 1870s, California have been cultivating seedless novel and sweet Valencia oranges, this all changed when tree pest Icerya found its way into the state and damaged the crops.
- The chief of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Division of Entomology, Charles Valentine Riley decided to try to find the pests natural enemies to act as pest control.
- He managed to find a species of ladybug, now known as Novius cardinalis, that is known for eating large Icerya and it ended up being the world’s most successful experiment in biological control.
Click here to view the original web page at: The Bug That Saved California
