Biological control and nutrition: Food for thought

• This is a review paper on the effect of nutrition on producing biocontrol agents.
• We focused on biological control agents used to control insect pests.
• We examined nutritional impacts on biocontrol traits in a variety of biocontrol agents.
• Based on the literature nutrition plays a major role in the success of a biocontrol agent.

Biological control agents including a wide range of organisms such as predators, parasitoids, and entomopathogens (bacteria, fungi, nematodes, and viruses) are frequently used to control insect pests. Despite commercial availability of these biocontrol agents their widespread use is limited due to biological and economic difficulties. Efficient mass-production relies heavily on the environment in which the agent is grown. Nutrition can play a significant role in important biocontrol traits such as colonization and survival, tolerance to environmental stress, reproduction, and longevity. Therefore, to increase biocontrol potential nutritional aspects should be considered prior to commercial production. This review aims to explore the role nutrition plays in the production and efficacy of biocontrol agents by summarizing the effect nutrition has on important biocontrol traits, specifically traits in organisms that target insect pests including predators, parasitoids, and microbial agents.