Rincon Vitova Insectaries Inc

The tools are simple; the task is anything but. Entomologist Don Norlund is holed up in a bug-filled Weslaco, Tex., laboratory, armed with nothing but cardboard grids and swaths of filmy organza cloth, trying mightily to drag the insect industry into the 20th Century. "Right now, the industry is not using neat technology to produce beneficial insects," said Norlund, a research entomologist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "It is not automated to any extent whatsoever.

The tools are simple; the task is anything but. Entomologist Don Norlund is holed up in a bug-filled Weslaco, Tex., laboratory, armed with nothing but cardboard grids and swaths of filmy organza cloth, trying mightily to drag the insect industry into the 20th Century. "Right now, the industry is not using neat technology to produce beneficial insects," said Norlund, a research entomologist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "It is not automated to any extent whatsoever.

Planting a crop for the express purpose of attracting insects may sound like a crazy idea, but that's exactly what the people at Rincon-Vitova Insectaries Inc. of Ventura are recommending to their customers. The firm, which became famous for breeding and marketing beneficial insects used by farmers to protect against crop-damaging bugs, is now promoting an additional process, one that further reduces the need for chemical agricultural sprays.

The Teamsters strike against United Parcel Service is really starting to bug Jan Dietrick. Dietrick is general manager of Rincon-Vitova Insectaries Inc., which supplies growers around the country with ladybugs, green lacewings and other beneficial insects to help eradicate crop-munching pests. The problem is, Dietrick's company uses UPS to ship its bugs.

The Teamsters strike against United Parcel Service is really starting to bug Jan Dietrick. You see, Dietrick is general manager of Rincon-Vitova Insectaries Inc., which supplies growers around the country with ladybugs, green lacewings and other "beneficial insects" to help eradicate crop-munching pests. The problem is Dietrick's company uses UPS to ship its bugs.

This month's pesticide spill, which put a rail tanker load of toxics into Northern California's water supply, need not have happened. I'm not talking about railway safety, although that certainly needs to be looked into. I'm talking about pesticides. As reported in this paper, Gov. Wilson noted the effect on "our natural treasures when poisoned by man-made hazards." Today, I would like to point out some Venturans who are doing something to roll back the threat of the pesticide hazard.

When Allison Starcher strolls through her garden, she admires its beauty, bountiful vegetables and flowering herbs. She especially takes note of the many insects lurking within the leaves that are voracious bad-bug assassins. "They're wonderful," she said. "I have so many beneficial insects living in my garden that the pest insects no longer destroy my plants. One day, I counted 15 damsel bugs in my tomatoes alone."

After four months and eight aerial pesticide sprayings, agriculture officials say the battle to eradicate the crop-destroying Mediterranean fruit fly from Ventura County is showing strong signs of success. * With near-universal cooperation from the county's agricultural and political leaders and only minor protests from some residents living in or near the spray zone, the effort to stamp out the exotic pest is only about two months away from completion, officials said.