More time consuming, more record keeping, patience, and education or training. Greater understanding of the biology of the pest and its enemies. Can be more costly Results are not immediate like pesticide use. Most natural enemies attack only specific insects instead of a whole spectrum like insecticides. The Three Main Approaches to Biological Control.
Biological control uses naturally occurring diseases, parasites and predators to control pests.
There are three main ways to use these natural enemies against unwanted insect pest populations. When pests find or are introduced to a new environment they leave their enemies behind, therefore with their natural enemies present it can reduce the amount of damage they do. Augmentation is introducing a mass number of the natural enemy to the area being affected. Mass numbers can be produced in the lab or collected. This method relies on continual human management and is not a permanent solution like importation.