Trichogramma Trade-offs
“Chance favours the prepared mind” Louis Pasteur
Introducing beneficial insects into your orchard can take many forms. Insect containment and delivery technology is a fast moving, evolving field as more orchardists adopt and implement ABC to protect their crops.
Do your Research.
arthroPODS
Purpose designed for small scale orchard enterprises.
Portion control. No waste.
Easy-twist opening system. At first sign of emergence arthroPODS can be opened on the spot avoiding losses and spills.
High rates of beneficial hatch and emergence.
Made from compostable, recyclable bioplastic. Quick breakdown.
Safe for grazing stock.
Contains a proprietary food and water source.
Promotes positive insect behaviour and reproductive activity.
Aust Registered Design#202515602
Cards
Widely used in small scale horticultural settings.
Trichogramma pupae are glued to perforated sheet. Torn into sections and applied by hand.
Commonly hung on trellis, stapled or nailed to posts.
The pupae remain exposed to pests and the environment until the wasps emerge. Relatively cheap to produce. Bulky for large amounts requiring cool storage.
Drones / UAV’s
Commonly used to broadcast loose Trichogramma eggs/pupae.
Eggs often mixed with an inert “carrier” such as vermiculite to promote uniform spreading.
Specialist application fittings required for the UAV.
Improvements in battery life and avionics will allow drones to fly for longer carrying heavier payloads with less direct human involvement.
Sachets and Spheres
Various insect containment systems designed for different beneficial species, crop systems (protected / broadacre / irrigated / non irrigated/ trellised).
Mechanisms for placement include UAV, tractor and light aircraft.
+ / - source of nutrition and water depending on multiple factors.
Liquid Suspensions
A relatively experimental method that involves mixing Trichogramma pupae with water and a thickening agent. Specialist application equipment can include agitated tanks and custom nozzles based on suspension rheology.
Research indicates 10-15% reduction in Trichogramma emergence once applied*
Loose Eggs (Pupae)
Purchased and delivered in bulk. Loose eggs arrive without a source of food or water. Eggs must be carefully weighed and portioned into smaller amounts and manually placed throughout the orchard for even distribution.
Exposed to elements, predators, issues of desiccation and re-humidification with negative impacts on beneficial wasp emergence.
“Traditional egg cards used for Trichogramma releases have major limitations; They are not rain-, enemy- and sunshine proof…and various capsules have been developed according to crop characteristics and/or environmental conditions. Ball, bag (triangle) and box (square shaped capsules are currently used for Trichogramma releases in China.”
“..cards are highly sensitive to adverse environmental conditions such as high temperatures and rainfall, and can easily be destroyed by predators such as ants”ref2)
“For Rice paddy fields ball-shaped capsules made from biodegradable materials were designed to provide an automatic floating position, enabling parasitoid exit holes to remain above the water surface”.
“Trichogramma manual releases [are] proving increasingly expensive and not practical during agricultural peak activity. Unmanned aerial vehicles such as drones are being deployed… These are suitable for complex farmlands with numerous seperate plots…”
“Trichogramma have historically been mass released utilising a carrier and broadcast or glued to cards or the inside of paper capsules which are then dropped onto or attached to the crop. Broadcasting host eggs is effective but host eggs that fall on the ground may be compromised by lethal temperatures or drown under flooded conditions Recently, innovative release strategies for Trichogramma suppression of crop pests have been applied, including the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs, or drones). The proposal here utilises solid biodegradable protective capsules that are readily dispersed with relative accuracy at the field or landscape scale to provide effective spatially”…
References.
Biological Control with Trichogramma in China: History, Present Status and Perspectives. Annual Review of Entomology. 2021. 66: 463-84
Enhancing the effectiveness of Trichogramma wasps through innovative formulations. Journal of Biotropical Research and Nature Technology. Volume 3 Issue 2 2025.
The Use of UAS to Release the Egg Parasitoid Trichogramma spp. (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) Against an Agricultural and a Forest Pest in Canada J Econ Entomol. 2021 Feb 8; 114 (5): 1867-1881
Technical feasibility of spraying Trichogramma ostriniae Pupae to control the European Corn Borer in Sweet Corn Crops. Applied Engineering in Agriculture 35(2): 185-192 2019.
Augmentative Biological Control of Invertebrate Pests in Australasia: Experiences from Down Under: Biological Control 210 (2025) 105895