Nematodes vanquish billion dollar pest

The larvae of Diabrotica virgifera virgifera beetles wreak havoc on maize. Feasting on the plants' roots, they are estimated to cause $1 billion of damage every year in the US. Ted Turlings from the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland, explains that the pest, known as western corn rootworm, only arrived in Serbia in the 1990s, but since then it has marched through at least 11 European countries.

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