- Beetle bank
In
agriculture , a beetle bank is a strip of grass orperennial plant s in a field that provide habitat which fosters and provides cover forinsect s hostile to pests.They are used as a form of
biological pest control to reduce or replace the use ofinsecticide s.Beetle banks can also serve as habitat for birds and rodents.
Origin
According to a March 2005 draft entry for the "
Oxford English Dictionary ", the term first came into use in the early 1990s, with published examples including the August 22, 1992 issue of the "New Scientist " and an October 12, 1994 reference in "The Guardian " society section::‘Beetle banks’, a recent initiative by theGame Conservancy Trust , would also help encourage ground-nesting birds while creating cover foraphid -eating bugs with more pay-off in savings on aphicides.As of 2005 the website of the Game Conservancy Trust notes that the organization invented beetle banks in collaboration with theUniversity of Southampton .In practice
* Beetle banks are for example used to lure "Chrysoperla carnea" and ichneumon flies. Belts are for example created made up from sunflowers, "Vicia faba", "Centaurea cyanus",
coriander ,Borage , andBuckwheat . [cite paper
author=Felix Wäckers, Paul van Rijn and Jan Bruin
publisher=Cambridge University Press, UK, 2005
date=2005
title=Plant-Provided Food for Carnivorous Insects - a protective mutualism and its applications.
ISBN 139780521819411]References
External links
* [http://www.gct.org.uk/text01.asp?PageId=220 Beetle bank] , from the
Game Conservancy Trust website
* [http://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/publications/fps/FPS%2007%20final.pdf Beetle bank] , from theDEFRA website, Farm Practices Survey 2007Bibliography
* cite paper
author=Felix Wäckers, Paul van Rijn and Jan Bruin
publisher=Cambridge University Press, UK, 2005
date=2005
title=Plant-Provided Food for Carnivorous Insects - a protective mutualism and its applications.
ISBN 139780521819411
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