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A nursery site for the rearing of water hyacinth
beetles that
is located in the field (Photo courtesy of Queensland
Government,
Department of
Natural Resources and Mines).
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Some insects which rapidly establish large populations in the field may be amenable to field collection for release at other locations. The initial sites from which field collection takes place are termed nursery sites. These are discussed further by Harley and Forno
(1992) and in
the Establishment section
of this CD. This process is more economical than insectary-based mass rearing if the nursery sites are not remote. An example in recent times is the salvinia weevil
Cyrtobagous salviniae. Infested salvinia is harvested, bagged and despatched to new release sites. Sometimes sites not specifically set up as nursery sites become collecting sites when agent populations build up locally. Care should be taken so that other unwanted species are not also transferred between sites.
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