The following was received via email: I'M looking to introduce a parasitised wasp for fig trees. Would the correct wasp be Psyllaephagus? If so where could I purchase these in AB? Thanks, Susan
try Evergro / Westgro for beneficial insects, I think they will ship anywhere although the size of packaging is geared towards commercial growers and not retail customers.
Hi Eric: Can you find out from Susan why she wants a parasitized wasp for Figs? I think there is a minor problem here with terminology. I refer to a parasidic wasp as one that will come in and attack a Carpenter Worm or a Navel Orange Worm, for examples, on various Figs such as Mission, Brown Turkey, Calimyrna, Kadota and so on. The wasp will sting the worm and lays its eggs and then the junveniles have a host to feed on when they emerge from hatching. We have used various parasidic wasps here for Bio Control on Figs for many years, at least 25 years that I know of. One misconception about Figs is that a wasp does indeed carry out the pollination process for us in most all fruiting varieties. Without a wasp we would not ever get a Calimyrna Fig to eat from our trees as an example. There would be no fruit set on a Calimryna tree without a wasp. My old Plant Pathology instructor used to kid us in that every time we ate a Fig we also were eating a worm that was trapped inside in the Fig as a result of pollination. Jim
Hi Jim, I was not sure I understood Susan's message either. I do not know it she was looking for a pollinator or a pest control method. I will try to contact her.
Susan Thanks for all the interest. I'm looking for the parasitic wasp to control a white fungus on fig trees for a commercial account. Customer has had this problem before and controlled the problem without chemicals. I will be looking at the trees tomorrow and getting all the knowledge myself to solve this problem. Susan
other suggestions Two more places... Bug Factory (local) and also Koppert (Woldwide shipping). The last one has a great site to get more info on biologicals
