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Like a Moth to a ... Piece of Plastic

Posted by michael on from the enlarge-your-sensory-organs-now dept.

An anonymous writer sends: "Cook and DuPage counties in Illinois are attempting to deal with their gypsy moth problem by bombarding the moth population with female moth pheromone coated plastic flakes. This will overwhelm the males sensory organs, and inhibit their future reproduction. It will only require about 15 grams of flakes to cover each acre."

1 of 20 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Remember the "sterile" medflies? by Oily+Tuna · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's guaranteed to work better than the Californian experiment. The flakes cannot make things worse because they don't reproduce!

    The Gypsy Moth pheremone is an attractant, not a stimulant, so another bad scenario - the male moths find the female and are extra randy - cannot happen either.

    However, one should not underestimate nature. There could be unforeseen side-effects.

    --
    Mmmmmmm ... sushi.