The book is divided into 10 chapters. The first chapter discusses the impacts of pesticides on biological control, and the authors conclude that although pesticides cannot be immediately removed from agricultural production, our ultimate goal should be the complete elimination of pesticides. Although many practitioners of Integrated Pest Management believe that such a goal is probably unattainable, having such a goal should help steer pest management research toward more ecologically-based practices, biological control included. Chapter 2 is a survey of natural enemies, including many black and white photographs of predators, parasites and pathogens. Chapter 3 discusses, in a relatively nontechnical way, the natural and ecological bases for biological control. Chapters 4-6 review the history and some of the many excellent successes in biological control, starting with the first use of predators in pest management over 2000 years ago. Most of the examples covered in these chapters include classical (importation) biological control. Chapter 7 covers the important role of research in biological control and devotes several pages each to importation, conservation, and augmentation. The utilization of biological control as a viable pest management is the topic of Chapter 8. Chapter 9 discusses other non-chemical approaches to pest management practices, such as cultural and genetic methods. Chapter 10 concludes the book by discussing ways to switch from chemically-based to biologically-based pest management programs, providing several examples of successful IPM programs throughout the world that have been based primarily on biological control. The bibliography contains over 400 references, and there is an extensive index.

Biological Control by Natural Enemies is highly recommended to those who want a very thorough yet readable book to provide a wealth of background information on the science and practice of biological control.