If a bag containing a Muscidifurax raptor is installed at a certain interval in the barn, the it flies through a hole in the bag in advance, lays eggs on the fly pupae and breeds. (image: Haenam County Office)
JEJU, May 13 (Korea Bizwire) – As part of a new initiative to eliminate flies at Jeju City livestock farms, natural predator insects will be distributed to farmers.
The city of Jeju on South Korea’s largest island of Jeju said Tuesday that it will push for a pilot project to eliminate pests using a wasp known as the Muscidifurax raptor, a natural enemy of pests such as flies.
Accordingly, the city will select 20 cattle and pig farms in its jurisdiction as the target sites for the pilot project, and supply them with the special wasps six times from this month to October.
Flies have been cited as a headache for livestock farmers, serving as a medium for increased livestock stress and various diseases. In response, farmers spend millions of won a year spraying pesticide.
However, problems have been raised, with livestock eating dead flies poisoned with insecticide along with their feed, which has also been cited as the cause of the bacterial disease.
The Muscidifurax raptor, which is only about 2 millimetres long, is a natural enemy of flies and feeds on fly pupae.
The Korea Beneficial Insect Lab succeeded in commercializing the wasp in 2003 and is currently distributing it to livestock farms across the country.
The flies are naturally inhibited because Muscidifurax raptors lay eggs on the fly pupae and the offspring grows up eating larvae in the pupae.
If a bag containing a Muscidifurax raptor is installed at a certain interval in the barn, the it flies through a hole in the bag in advance, lays eggs on the fly pupae and breeds.
Muscidifurax raptors are known to reduce the number of flies per cattle barn by 70 to 80 percent by laying eggs in pupae where 100 to 150 flies are born.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
