Orcon Trichogramma Mail-Back, Pack of 5 | Certificates for Live Egg Parasite Wasps

How the Orcon Trichogramma Mail-Back Pack Works

This is a pack of five pre-paid certificates from Organic Control, the Orcon insectary, and each certificate is one shipment of live Trichogramma. The certificates arrive by post. The insects do not come in the box. A parasitic wasp has to be shipped the week it will be released, straight from the insectary. To redeem, the grower goes to Orcon's redeem page and enters the certificate number, the store it came from and a shipping address. Orcon then sends the live cards. Orcon ships Monday through Wednesday only so the insects never sit in a depot over a weekend, and it cannot ship to a PO box. Certificates redeemed after noon Pacific on Tuesday go out the following week. Orcon holds a shipment back in extreme heat or cold to protect the insects. What arrives is a cup holding a card-square, and each square carries a colony of about 4,000 moth eggs with Trichogramma developing inside them. Trichogramma are tiny wasps that lay their own eggs inside the eggs of moths and butterflies. The larva hatches inside the pest egg, eats it, pupates there and emerges as an adult to find the next egg. The caterpillar never hatches at all. It targets more than 200 pest species. Bollworm, tobacco budworm, codling moth, corn earworm, alfalfa caterpillar, gypsy moth, cutworm and tomato hornworm are named on the card. Five certificates are five releases. That is the point of the pack, since one release covers the eggs laid in one window and a moth flight lasts a season. Orcon keeps Trichogramma in production year round, so a certificate redeemed in March and one redeemed in July both ship.

Releasing Caterpillar Egg Parasite Wasps So They Find the Eggs

Caterpillar egg parasite wasps only work on eggs, so the timing is set by the moths rather than by the damage. Redeem the first certificate when adult moths are first seen at the lights or in a pheromone trap, because the eggs follow within days. Put the card out the day it arrives. Uncap the cup and wedge it in the fork of a tree, or lift the square out and hang it from a branch. Tape goes on the smooth side, and the egg side is never touched. Keep it out of the rain and away from ant trails, since ants carry off parasitised eggs as readily as any other. Release in the afternoon or evening at 70 to 80 degrees, so the emerging adults settle in warm, calm air. Keep the garden moist, because the adults drink dew and a dry canopy sends them elsewhere. Space the five releases two to three weeks apart through the flight. Trichogramma live only a few days as adults, and the second and third cards are what keep the next generation of moth eggs covered. Hold off on broad-spectrum sprays for the week around each release. A wasp smaller than a pencil dot does not survive an insecticide meant for a hornworm. Results show as fewer caterpillars rather than as dead ones, and the first sign is fruit and leaves that stop getting chewed. Write the redemption date on each certificate stub as it is used. Five pieces of paper on a shelf are easy to lose track of by midsummer.

Key Features

• Five pre-paid certificates: Each one redeemed online for a live Trichogramma shipment from Orcon.
• About 4,000 eggs per card-square: Moth eggs with Trichogramma developing inside, one square per cup.
• Egg parasites: The wasp lays inside the pest egg, and the caterpillar never hatches.
• More than 200 pest species: Bollworm, budworm, codling moth, corn earworm, cutworm and hornworm among them.
• Shipped fresh: Orcon ships Monday to Wednesday via UPS, never to a PO box.
• Five releases per pack: Two to three weeks apart through the moth flight.
• Release at 70 to 80 degrees: Afternoon or evening, out of the rain and away from ants.

Technical Specifications