biological control

noun

1. the control of pests by interference with their ecological status, as by introducing a natural enemy or a pathogen into the environment.

biological control

noun

1. the control of destructive organisms by the use of other organisms, such as the natural predators of the pests

biological control

1. Control of pests by disrupting their ecological status, as through the use of organisms that are natural predators, parasites, or pathogens. Examples of biocontrol include the use of ladybugs to prey on aphids and scale insects and the treatment of turf with spores of the bacterium Bacillus popilliae , which cause milky disease in Japanese beetle larvae.

Word History and Origins

Origin of biological control¹

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

Doubtless it will long be used as a basis for attempted biological control of the propagation of the unfit.

From Project Gutenberg

The effect of lizards on the biological control of scale insects in Bermuda.

From Project Gutenberg

The people involved in attempted biological control have been called farmers, planters, ranchers, and peasants.

From Project Gutenberg

Kadocsa stated that Brachygaster minutus and Evania appendigaster were not important in the biological control of cockroaches.

From Project Gutenberg

The North American parasitic wasps of the genus Tetrastichus—a contribution to biological control of insect pests.

From Project Gutenberg