Submitted to: Ecological Modelling Publication Type: Peer
Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: December 8, 1998
Publication Date: N/A Interpretive Summary: When biological
control of an insect pest is attempted over a large area, key
questions are: how many natural enemies do you release, when
should you release them, and how do you position your release
points so you can expect highest numbers of pests killed with
the fewest numbers of natural enemies released? Computer models
are useful tools in answering these questions because they allow
scientists to simulate many different scenarios that would
otherwise be too expensive or time consuming to do in reality.
These models have been helpful in answering the first two
questions, but the last question is only now being addressed by
a new type of model that allows scientists to investigate the
effects of space. We are developing such a model using as an
example the boll weevil and one of its parasites. We used the
model to explore different biological