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Predatory Bugs Can Save Cornfields
01.12.2010 09:28 "Agro Perspectiva" (Kyiv) —
One of the worst pests of corn in the world, the corn rootworm, may owe its worldwide success partly to its larvaes nasty, sticky blood.
U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) entomologist Jonathan G. Lundgren and his colleagues discovered this recently, working with CABI researchers in Delémont, Switzerland, and Hódmezővásárhely, Hungary. The discovery could lead to development of ways to overcome these defenses as part of sustainable, ecologically based pest management methods.
In lab and field experiments in the United States and abroad, the rootworm larvaes sticky blood caused certain species of predators to quickly back off. The foul-tasting blood coagulated in the predators mouths, temporarily gluing them shut. Predators repelled by the rootworm larvaes blood included ground beetles and ants.
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