We offer services in three main areas:
Liberation of Californicus mites on avocado trees

BENEFICIAL ORGANISMS

The production of beneficials at Associates Insectary is a continuous process, producing up to two million insects and mites each and every day. These beneficials are liberated regularly on over 10,000 acres of orchards owned by our grower-members.

Associates Insectary

UNBIASED ADVICE

Biological control alone may not provide 100% economical control of certain pests at all times and certain destructive pests have no effective natural enemies. To maintain high quality crops in these cases, our grower-members use Insectary beneficials as part of an Integrated Pest Management program. Using an IPM program greatly reduces the need for highly toxic pesticides to control pests.

When Associates Insectary must resort to the controlled spraying of pesticides, only materials approved by the Environmental Protection Agency are used. Our staff of California licensed Pest Control Advisors recommend treatments using oils, insect baits and other selective materials which target pests and minimize the disruption of natural predators. Associates Insectary is dedicated to controlling orchard pests with the lowest possible impact on the environment.

Pest Management Spraying

CUSTOM EQUIPMENT

As historic innovators in pest control applications, more than 60 years ago we worked with researchers in the Agricultural Engineering department at UCLA to develop an Oscillating Boom sprayer that would reduce spray drift and provide better control of pests, with less toxic pesticides than the standard equipment in the industry. When avocado pests became a problem in the 1990s, we again redesigned our equipment to provide control of the new pests with less toxic pesticides than others were forced to use.