Speaking at a meeting of the Entomological Society of America, Dr. Bjostad said that termites preferred air with about one percent of carbon dioxide, about one-tenth the concentration in people's exhaled breath. The lure of carbon dioxide makes sense biologically because both rotting wood and termite colonies emit carbon dioxide in the specific concentrations. The insects can follow the odor to find food and then use the odor to find their way back home. Proper identification and understanding of natural enemies, as well as the insect pests attached by these beneficials, is the first step in implementing biological control. Predators may feed on a wide variety of pests, or they may be more specific, feeding on one or a few pest species.
Insect predators fall into one or two groups, depending on their mouthparts.
These predators typically eat most of their prey. Insects at all life stages can be attached by one or more predatory species. Parasites lay an egg in or on a host, which then hatches and develops at the expense of the host. Most often the host is eventually killed as the developing parasite consumer the host's organs or body fluids. Parasitic flies often resemble the common house fly.