Beetle bank
A Beetle bank, In agriculture and horticulture, is a form of biological pest control. It is a strip planted with grasses (bunch grasses) and-or perennial plants, within a crop field or a garden, that fosters and provides habitat for beneficial insects, birds, and other fauna that prey on pests.
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[edit] Description
Beetle banks are typically made up from plants such as: Sunflowers, Vicia faba, Centaurea cyanus, Coriander, Borage, Muhlenbergia, Stipa, and Buckwheats (Eriogonum spp.). The "beetle banks" are used to reduce or replace the use of insecticides, and can also serve as habitat for birds and beneficial rodents.[1] The concept was developed by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust in collaboration with the University of Southampton.
[edit] Other benefits
Other important benefits can be providing habitat for pollinators, and for endangered species. If using local native plants, endemic and indigenous flora and fauna restoration ecology is supported.
[edit] Term history
According to a March 2005 draft entry for the Oxford English Dictionary, the term first came into use in the early 1990s, with published examples including the August 22, 1992 issue of the New Scientist and an October 12, 1994 reference in The Guardian society section:
- ‘Beetle banks’, a recent initiative by the Game Conservancy Trust, would also help encourage ground-nesting birds while creating cover for aphid-eating bugs with more pay-off in savings on aphicides.
[edit] See also
[edit] Articles
- Beneficial insects
- Biological pest control
- List of companion plants
- List of repellent plants
- List of pest-regulating plants
[edit] Index
[edit] References
- ^ For example; pests such as Chrysoperla carnea and the Ichneumon fly can be prey to 'beetles' and birds. Felix Wäckers, Paul van Rijn and Jan Bruin (2005). Plant-Provided Food for Carnivorous Insects - a protective mutualism and its applications. Cambridge University Press, UK, 2005. ISBN 139780521819411.
[edit] External links
- Beetle bank, from the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust website
- Beetle bank, from the DEFRA website, Farm Practices Survey 2007
