Microbial control—the emergence of an idea. A brief history of insect pathology through the nineteenth century

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does not appear. First page follows. Introduction The Term “microbial control” is used in referring to that phase of biological control concerned with the employment by man of microorganisms for the control and reduction of the number of animals (or plants) in a particular area or in a given population. As it applies to insect populations, it thus distinguishes between the use of microorganisms and the use of insect parasites and predators.3 Although the term “microbial control” is a modern one—first used in 1949 (Steinhaus, 1949)4—the idea it designates originated over a hundred years ago. Unfortunately, the manner in which this idea was born and just how it emerged from the morass of early biological thought and experiment have never been made clear. Almost universally the literature in insect pathology credits the illustrious zoologist Elie Metchnikoff5 with having first suggested using microorganisms to control harmful insects. Metchnikoff’s contributions in this field were great, but he was not the first to propound the idea, and the story is much involved. Also not generally appreciated is the fact that the idea of microbial control was conceived and brought forth largely as a result of man’s study of the maladies of the silkworm, Bombyx mori Linnaeus. Just how this all came about makes a fascinating and revealing study, and one that can contribute