prof.dr.ir. GJ (Gerben) Messelink

Research Mission

Biological pest control is one my greatest passions. It is absolutely fascinating see how pests can be completely suppressed by the use of natural enemies such as predatory mites, predatory bugs, predatory beetles, parasitic wasps, predatory midges, lacewings and hoverflies. The huge diversity of insects and mites is something that continues to amaze me, and I am convinced that the possibilities for biological control are far from exhausted. Together with my colleagues and students we try to improve the possibilities for biological control of pests in greenhouses and contribute to the reduction of the use of chemical pesticides. My work can be summarized in 5 themes:

1) New natural enemies

A large part of my work is focusing on the selection and evaluation of new natural enemies. This has contributed to the availability of many new species for biological control, such as the predatory mites Amblyseius swirsii [1, 2] and Macrocheles robustulus [3], the parasitoid Aphidius matricariae [4], mirid predatory bugs [5, 6] and the chess board ladybird schaakbordlieveheersbeestje Propylea quatuordecimpunctata (beautiful!). Not only in the Netherlands, but also internationally I am involved in projects aimed at selecting and evaluating new natural enemies for biological control in Africa, the Middle East and China.

• IOBC/WPRS (31-8-2022/1-10-2027)
  Convenor of the Working Group Integrated Control in Protected Crops, Temperate Climate of International Organization for Biological and Integrated Control (IOBC) section WPRS
• COGEM (1-2-2023/31-1-2027)
  De subcommissie landbouw van de COGEM is verantwoordelijk is voor de beoordeling van toelating van genetisch gemodificeerde organismen.