Economic Importance
Fairyflies have been used for the biological pest control of various crop pests. They are especially valued for their ability to locate the eggs of their hosts. Of the fairyflies, the cosmopolitan genus Anagrus is the most promising, as it can parasitize a wide range of hosts. There are at least ten known instances of successful introductions of fairyflies to control pests.
In Hawaii, Anagrus optabilis has been successfully used to control the sugarcane planthopper (Perkinsiella saccharicida). In South Africa, Anaphes nitens was introduced very successfully to control the eucalyptus snout beetle (Gonipterus scutellatus).
Anagrus epos has also previously been used effectively against the grape leafhopper (Erythroneura elegans) and the variegated grape leafhopper (Erythroneura variabilis). At first it met limited success as the wasps died in winter for lack of a host. The planting of wild blackberries (Rubus spp.) near vineyards in California brought along with it the blackberry leafhopper (Dikrella cruentata). Though not pests, D. cruentata proved to be sufficient hosts for A. epos in winter, allowing them to survive into the next year. They have also been shown capable of overwintering in prune leafhoppers (Edwardsiana prunicola).
Gonatocerus triguttatus, Gonatocerus tuberculifemur, and Anagrus epos (which is probably a species complex) were also studied for possible use in controlling glassy-winged sharpshooters (Homalodisca vitripennis) in California. Gonatocerus triguttatus and Gonatocerus ashmeadi were eventually introduced in California in 2000. It proved to be very successful, causing a ~90% decline in populations of glassy-winged sharpshooters.
In 2005, Gonatocerus ashmeadi was used against invasive glassy-winged sharpshooters in Tahiti and Moorea of the French Polynesia. Again, it was very effective, bringing down the pest density by ~95% in just a year after introduction. It was subsequently also released in the Society Islands, the Marquesas, and Austral, where similar results were obtained against glassy-winged sharpshooters.
In Australia and Israel, members of the genus Stethynium are being investigated as possible biological control agents for gall-forming crop pests, particularly Ophelimus maskelli.
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