Conservation of Natural Enemies

Sweet corn is a favored habitat for beneficial insects that feed on caterpillar eggs and small larvae, corn leaf aphids, and sweet corn pollen and help suppress pest populations. These natural enemies include ladybeetles, insidious flower bugs, lacewing larvae, parasitic wasps, and indigenous Trichogramma species. The methods described here conserve these natural enemies. Studies conducted to evaluate the effects of Bt and spinosad on a range of beneficial insects and non-target organisms have shown that both have low toxicity, although spinosad shows somewhat more negative effects than Bt [10].