Battle of the Bugs: California To Launch Moth Killing Wasp Campaign
by Erin Podolak | 2:59 pm, July 11th
Agricultural management officials in California have decided to let loose hundreds of wasps, to find and kill hundreds of non-native moths. The decision to unleash the wasps is an attempt to find alternatives to aerial spraying of pesticides, while still protecting crops from being damaged by the pesky moths. You might be asking yourself, well okay less pesticides is probably a good thing, but why wasps?
The small, stinger-less wasps being used are pale yellow wasps (Trichogramma platneri) which are only the size of rice kernels. These insects lay their eggs inside the light brown apple moth’s eggs. The wasps incubate inside the eggs until the larvae emerge ready to kill the developing moth babies. The California Department of Food and Agriculture plan to use the wasps in San Luis Obispo and Sacramento counties, in what is being called an “integrated pest management” approach to agriculture that minimizes detrimental effects. But is introducing one predator to take on another predator neither of which are native to the area, really going to cause no problems?
Read on...
James Plafke 
Max 
Eric Limer 
Rollin Bishop 
The 65 Best Planking Pictures From Around the World
There is a Beer That Tastes Like Bacon and Maple Syrup
Philosoraptor’s 50 Wisest Musings
11 Fantastic Photos and Videos of Yesterday’s Annular Eclipse
Here’s How to Get to Diablo III’s Brightly Colored Secret Level “Whimsyshire”
RSS