Associates Insectary

FarmingCalifornia, United States11-50 Employees

The Insectary has continually expanded its facilities and production capacity over the past 95 years. We are the leading producer of “Mealybug Destroyer” beetles, Californicus predatory mites and Aphytis melinus parasites in the country. While most of our predators and parasites are used to combat pests in our Member’s groves, increasing numbers of our “Good Bugs” are being sold to outside sources. We have become one of the largest domestic suppliers of beneficial organisms to resale distributors and growers across North America.  

Rearing predators and parasites requires that we operate 365 days a year. The Insectary raises about two million organisms each day. That equates to 500-800 million beneficial organisms grown here each year. In addition to raising Cryptolaemus or “Mealybug Destroyer” beetles as we like to call them, our staff of highly trained individuals also raises several other species of beneficial organisms including: Neoseiulus californicus, a predatory mite is reared to help control mites in avocado groves and many other crops; and Aphytis melinus, a tiny wasp that parasitizes hard scale insects.  Many of these beneficial insects are raised in the same buildings constructed and used when the Insectary was first founded in 1928.

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