Kill plants with insects

He has just experimented with a campaign to prevent weed invasion with a tiny louse native to Japan.

Japanese little tree.Photo: clc.uc.edu.

Japanese Chit is an invasive plant with a height of 3-4 meters, beautiful leaves and white inflorescences. They are often grown to beautify houses and farms. This species grows very fast (can reach a height of 4 meters in 4 months) and has a tremendous spread rate.

Since the 40s of the 19th century, some Welsh people of the United Kingdom brought a bit of chit to grow as an ornamental plant, but soon the plant expanded throughout the United Kingdom. Extremely fast, but very difficult to destroy, they occupy land and destroy other crops, resulting in reduced agricultural productivity. In addition, little chit also weakens construction works, walls and dykes against floods.

Aphalara itadori lures a plastic louse.Photo: PA.

Currently, every year, the UK has to spend 210 million USD to stop and destroy a bit of Japan. However, scientists claim that an insect in the hometown of little chit can help them kill them. Those are the Aphalara itadori pests that specialize in sap. They will be released in some parts of the UK this spring to absorb the bit of plastic. Cabi - a nonprofit agricultural research organization - runs a project to release lice.

"Safety is our top priority. Fortunately, we have found a special species of natural enemies of little chit. The lice only suck a little bit of plastic, not attack any other plants." Dick Shaw, a Cabi expert, told the BBC.

Shaw said the scientists will closely monitor the activity of lice. If they cause disastrous consequences, they will use insecticides and herbicides to destroy both the chit and the lice.