Good bugs eat bad bugs

Company relies on nature, not chemicals

April 2, 1996
Web posted at: 3:30 p.m. EST

From Correspondent Ann Kellan

TUCSON, Arizona (CNN) -- Rick Frey scoops up a handful of maggots as if he were serving ice cream. (232K QuickTime movie)

"They think of this with some sort of dead animal," Frey says, showing off the legless grub. "Maggots are very much an important part of our life. In fact, we've designed our whole business around producing maggots."

Frey's company, Arbico -- short for Arizona Biological Control Inc. -- is causing quite a buzz. Arbico markets bugs to be used for bio-balanced agriculture, a process in which so-called beneficial insects fight off unwanted bugs by eating them.

Inside climate-controlled chambers, Arbico controls the life cycle of millions of flies. The flies develop into larvae, then maggots. After a few days they enter a cocoon-like state, called pupae. At this point, Arbico introduces a "good bug," a parasitic fly that lays eggs in the pupae.

Frey, Arbico's president, explains, "This little insect then finds this stage of the fly pupae. The female then puts her egg inside of it and that kills this stage of the fly."

The parasites then happily develop in the pupae as they are shipped out to thousands of customers around the world. Customers place the pupae containing the fly parasite wherever "bad bugs" are causing problems. Nature then takes her course.

As for Arbico, there's gold in them critters: $1 million in sales a year. Customers can order anything from ladybugs to earthworms through Arbico's catalog.

Race tracks and farmers are among Arbico's biggest clients. For large areas, farmers might use a remote-controlled plane to dust crops with helpful insects.

However, Arbico's primary customers are home gardeners. Frey's own family uses ladybugs to fend off cabbage-eating pests.

He simply says bio-balanced agriculture's time has come. (136K AIFF sound or 136K WAV sound)

Related site:

• Arizona Biological Control, Inc.