INDIAN TRAIL, N.C. – Research suggests the global insect population is quickly disappearing, with many species facing extinction. A major culprit: pesticides.

Now, the effort to save insects includes turning them against each other.

At North Carolina Farms in Indian Trail, N.C., growers use thousands of predatory insects to fight off invasive pests to cut its dependence on chemical pesticides.

According to the most recent EPA data, from 2000 to 2012, U.S. agriculture more than quadrupled its use of natural pest controls.

“[It’s] less impact on the environment. Plus, us. I don't like spraying [chemicals] either,” North Carolina Farms grower Joey Donahue says.

A recent study in the journal Biological Conservation found more than 40% of insect species are threatened with extinction

The population of monarch butterflies alone dropped 90% in the U.S. over the last 20 years, according to the New York Times.