Characterization of microbial communities in floral nectar and assessing their impact on nectar chemistry and performance of biological control agents of pest insects. KU Leuven
Biological control exploiting natural enemies such as predatory insects (i.e. insects feeding upon other insects) and parasitoids (i.e. insects that lay eggs on or in other insects, eventually killing them) has become increasingly important in insect pest management. However, success of biological control involving predators and parasitoids largely depends on carbohydrate food availability, because most of these biocontrol agents depend in their ...