The prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus has markedly been increasing in a universally screened urban Chinese female population and has become an important public health problem in China.

The population dynamics of Myzus persicae were investigated in the field in a year without releases of Aphidius gifuensis (1998Á1999), in a year with A. gifuensis releases (2000Á2001) and several years later (2005Á2007). The results showed that both high mean population densities and damage rates did not differ between 1998 and 1999, but were significantly lower in 2000Á2001 and 2005Á2007. Moreover, farmers also reported the decrease of M. persicae populations and attributed the declines to augmentative releases of A. gifuensis in their own fields, indicating farmers' recognition in the effectiveness of A. gifuensis for M. persicae control. In addition, compared with the historical data on pesticide use for M. persicae control, the number of insecticide applications and cost of M. persicae control was sustained at a low level in 2007 (several years after release of A. gifuensis). This suggests that the augmentative releases of A. gifuensis could be effective and sustainable in M. persicae control.