Research Advances in Biological Control Using Predatory Hoverflies as Natural Enemies

ABSTRACT Predatory hoverflies show control effects on key agricultural and forestry pests such as aphids and thrips. Moreover, many species provide biological control services on a regional geographical scale driven by their migratory behavior, making them an important taxonomic group for maintaining global ecosystem balance. By reviewing previous studies, this paper identifies 53 species with high potential to serve as effective biological control agents such as Episyrphus balteatus De Geer (Diptera: Syrphidae) and summarizes both large‐scale mass‐rearing‐and‐release technologies and strategies for conservation and utilization of natural populations. Mass‐rearing and release technologies cover the full pipeline from larval rearing to adult release, including environmental control, reproductive optimization, protected‐cultivation deployment, and post‐release monitoring and management, as well as key challenges that should be addressed—including long‐term population storage, long‐distance transportation, and migration of released populations in open fields. For the conservation and utilization of natural populations, this paper focuses on major environmental and agricultural production factors shaping population dynamics and introduces key measures including natural habitat improvement, conservation‐oriented farming practices, and monitoring and evaluation of the biological control functions provided by natural populations. In addition, this paper integrates emerging approaches—such as artificial intelligence and biotechnology—into the application landscape of natural‐enemy insect industries and discusses the prospects of hoverfly‐based biological control.