Awsome Plant Defense

[ezekiel]

I was just reading the April 2002 Discover magazine (hand me downs from my wife's parents) and saw a cool article about Nicotyiana attenuata (Wild Tobacco). When attacked by Heliothis virencens ("a common crop pest") the saliva of the caterpiller (H. virencens) triggers the plant to release airborne chemical cues. The cues attract Cardiochiles nigrenceps, a parasitic wasp that prefers to lay it's eggs in H. virencens. The larva hatch and feeds on the caterpiller. Just awsome!! The researcher will ultimatlly cross bread for cash crops (a bit of genetic soup). Anyway, plants are truly amazing!

 

[Colin]

Cool!

 

[klimbinfool]

I'm not sure what he said , but it does sound neat ... /forum/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[ezekiel]

The plant, in response to the pests saliva , sends out a signal to a natural predator of the pest. It seems like an intelligent response...

 

[TreeDr]

Good story, but not good a good one for the pest control industry,....we hate natural predators!!

Spray,Spray, spray!!!!