Use biological measures against insects

Over the past 1700 years, Chinese people have been effectively fighting insects with pure biological measures: using other insects to kill insects . Their most obvious success is probably the use of weaver ants to protect citrus trees. In the "Southern windy herbaceous" ( about plants in the South ) written in 304 AD, there is a paragraph describing the use of weaver ants as follows:

"Unusual sweet orange, Giao Chi people ( the Vietnamese people at that time ) held weaver ants in the dark clouds and brought them to the market to sell. With ants in the nest, this ants are aggressive and bigger than ordinary ants, this ant does not eat oranges but attacks the insects that eat oranges, In the South, orange trees without these ants will suffer all kinds of pests are harmful and there is no longer a healthy fruit. "

The use of biological measures to combat harmful insects is the first time to attract the attention of Westerners through an article on this issue in the "North China Herald (Printers)." North China) " on 4-4-1882. But it was not until the serious disease epidemic occurred in the state of Florida in 1910 that the US Department of Agriculture nominated a botanist to China in 1915 to find oranges against rot and he discovered ants eating insects. In 1958, a Chinese scientist, Tran Thu Kien, recommended studying this ant. So far in China, people still use ants to protect oranges and tangerines,