When farmers in Colorado get overwhelmed by pests and weeds, there鈥檚 a special team at the state鈥檚 agriculture department that answers the call. The cultivates biological control agents 鈥� natural pest combatants 鈥� that can be more efficient, sustainable and inexpensive than chemical pesticides. The Insectary and its unique mission turned 80-years-old earlier this month.
鈥淲e work with insects, mites and in some cases even rust fungi, against weeds,鈥� said director Dan Bean. 鈥淲e breed them. We handle them. Sometimes it's best to go out in the field and collect them and redistribute them. Anything that we can use to control invasive species.鈥�
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When a new invasive pest pops up in Colorado, insectary staff leap into action.
鈥淭he way it usually works is an invasive species comes from somewhere else, usually Eurasia, and it has natural enemies there,鈥� Bean said. 鈥淲hen it invades here and becomes a big problem, then you go back to its native land and see what controls it there. If there's some known insects or mites or pathogens that control it there, then we have a closer look at them.鈥�
Insectary staff make sure each proposed biological control agent will only go after its intended target. They run experiments to find the most effective time and method for distributing the organisms, which they propagate in their 14,000 square feet facility on the Western Slope after securing to distribute them. The entire process of preparing an agent for distribution can take a decade or more.
But the work has paid off. The insectary now has bugs or fungi to combat everything from bindweed to Emerald Ash Borer. A solution for the notorious Japanese beetle is now in the works.
On August 14, the Insectary marked 80 years as heroes of the Colorado agricultural community with a celebration attended by Governor Jared Polis and State Agriculture Commissioner Kate Greenberg.
鈥淭he Insectary鈥檚 work reduces the need for chemical pesticides, saves money for producers, and helps establish natural, permanent pest control options, benefiting Colorado's agriculture, economy, and environment for generations to come,鈥� Greenberg said in a press release.
The Insectary鈥檚 story started in 1945, when they deployed a parasitic wasp to save the Palisade Peach industry from a noxious moth.
鈥淭he pest that got us started is called peach moth. They attack peaches and pretty much destroy their commercial viability,鈥� Bean said. 鈥淲e distribute about 1.5 million of the wasps annually to the peach growers here, and those wasps help them control the larva that digs into their peaches.鈥�
According to Bean, the Insectary usually works directly with farmers and ranchers. But backyard gardeners can enjoy the benefits, too, through the agency鈥檚 鈥溾�� service, which ships out biological control agents on demand 鈥� organisms like , a and that goes after goathead.
Using beneficial insects, mites and fungi for pest control has several advantages for end users, according to Tiffany Carlson, the noxious weed supervisor for Routt County, which has been using the Insectary鈥檚 biological control agents for years.
鈥淲ithout those insects, we become more reliant on chemicals,鈥� Carlson said. 鈥淭hat helps us reduce the long run of chemicals, and helps us fight (pesticide) resistance, which occurs when we're using the same chemicals in the same areas.鈥�
The Insectary鈥檚 work doesn鈥檛 completely replace chemical pesticides, Carlson said, but it has become a critical part of a multi-pronged approach to invasive bug and weed control.
鈥淚t's a great program,鈥� Carlson said. 鈥淚'm so glad it's still here, and I hope that we can help it continue into the future.鈥�
