The European Union (EU) and its constituent governments are committed to increasing the success of biocontrol in Europe, and are currently seeking a pan-European balanced regulatory system to aid this objective. The concept of ‘balance’ recognizes that (a) the complexity of any licensing system must be proportionate to risk, (b) industrial producers of biocontrol agents have limited RandD budge...

A laboratory trial evaluated four phytoseiid species for their potential as biological control agents of spruce spider mite, Oligonychus ununguis (Jacobi) (Acari: Tetranychidae). An augmentative biological control approach, using the predatory mites Neoseiulus fallacis Garman and Galendromus occidentalis Nesbitt (Acari: Phytoseiidae), was evaluated for reducing pest mite densities and injury, a...