Confusing the enemy
Researchers at Colorado State University, USA, believe that they have found an environmentally friendly method of dealing with rootworms that ravage cornfields. The experiment were based on the discovery that rootworm larvae search for the roots of the plant by detecting the carbon dioxide (CO2) that roots emit. Louis B Bjostad, professor of entomology and his colleagues at the university used separate recipes of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and yeast, chemically primed to release CO2. They tested these on separate small plots of land. Both recipes produced enough CO2 to lure the larvae away from the roots. If the larvae cannot reach the roots within 24 hours of hatching, they starve. Extensive trials on larger tracts of land will soon be conducted to test the efficacy of the method.