Conservation Biological Control as an Alternative to Reduce Stink Bugs Outbreaks

Conservation biological control is the implementation of practices for preserving habitats, that maintain and enhance the reproduction, survival, and efficacy of natural enemies of pests. This involves identifying practices harmful to natural enemies and finding alternatives, and developing actions to actively benefit and promote natural enemies. In this sense, the development of protocols for a reduction on the frequency of applications with broad-spectrum pesticides, and the detection of selective products is an achievable alternative. Besides, given the diverse complex of natural enemies of stink bugs, habitat manipulation and diversification to promote their abundance is an area of high potential that requires identifying and integrating key biological processes affecting natural enemies’ fitness. The design and implementation of conservation biological control (CBC) tactics demand the integration of multidisciplinary knowledge. Given such complexity, the adoption of management recommendations is not an easy task, but also the high potential of CBC to contribute to the production of healthier foods and support more environmentally friendly agriculture is undeniable. In this chapter, the information available on this topic is summarized and examples of implementation of conservation biological control initiatives against stink bugs in several crops are provided.