The Palisade Insectary, a division of the Colorado Department of Agriculture, has started construction on a new 880-square-foot grow house. The facility is designed to increase the Insectary’s capacity to raise plants that serve as food for biocontrol agents. These agents are distributed to agricultural producers and land managers throughout Colorado to help control noxious weeds.
Insectary Director Dan Bean stated, “This new grow house will help the Insectary rear more biocontrol agents, which helps the entire state of Colorado manage invasive plant and insect species that harm crops, rangeland, and urban greenspaces.”
The addition will enable staff to better regulate light and temperature conditions for growing plants needed by the various biocontrol insects currently raised at the facility. Fourteen types of insects are cultivated through the Request-a-Bug program to address invasive weeds such as field bindweed, puncturevine (goat heads), tamarisk, and leafy spurge.
Founded in 1945, the Palisade Insectary is recognized as the oldest biological control center of its kind in the United States. It was initially established to combat peach pests like the Oriental Fruit Moth using biological controls such as Macrocentrus ancylivorus wasps. Over eight decades, it has developed more than 90 different biological agents targeting invasive weed and insect species.
Noxious weeds can degrade habitat quality for livestock and wildlife while displacing native plants. Severe infestations may render land unusable.
Through its Request-a-Bug program, the Insectary provides biocontrol agents directly to Coloradans for use on farms, gardens, or backyards. Each year, over 4 million insects are shipped in more than 4,000 releases to weed managers, agricultural producers, gardeners, landowners, local governments, and others across Colorado. The field bindweed mite is among the most requested insects; it feeds on bindweed leaves and vines until they curl up and die back.
