Wednesday, February 25, 2009
HONEY BEES MAY PROVIDE PROTECTION FROM ARMYWORMS
Army worms feed on some 50 plant species; and infestation can be devastating. However, according to Juen Tautz and his colleague Michael Rostas from the University of Wurzburg in Germany, bee noise traffic can keep the caterpillars at bay.
Wasp eat caterpillars and therefore caterpillars tend to stay clear of them. Tautz says he found sensory hairs on the caterpillars which detect air movement from the wasp's flapping wings, which serve as a warning mechanism. Bees on the other hand do not attack caterpillars. Yet their similar buzz has the same effect. In controlled experiments, the plants exposed to honey bee traffic showed markedly less damage than the control, (in absence of bee traffic). He says that gardeners may take advantage of this relationship by alternating rows of vegetable and flowers which attract bees to ward off the caterpillars and decrease pesticide use. This research was posted on line, December 22 in Current Biology.
Wasp eat caterpillars and therefore caterpillars tend to stay clear of them. Tautz says he found sensory hairs on the caterpillars which detect air movement from the wasp's flapping wings, which serve as a warning mechanism. Bees on the other hand do not attack caterpillars. Yet their similar buzz has the same effect. In controlled experiments, the plants exposed to honey bee traffic showed markedly less damage than the control, (in absence of bee traffic). He says that gardeners may take advantage of this relationship by alternating rows of vegetable and flowers which attract bees to ward off the caterpillars and decrease pesticide use. This research was posted on line, December 22 in Current Biology.
Labels: beneficial insects, biological pest control, organic gardening, pesticide
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