The Moth Versus The Crowd -- Tracking An Alien Invader Of Conker Trees Using People Power
Thursday, January 30, 2014 - 15:10
in Mathematics & Economics
An army of citizen scientists has helped the professionals understand how a tiny 'alien' moth is attacking the UK's conker (horse-chestnut) trees, and showed that naturally-occurring pest controlling wasps are not able to restrict the moth's impact. The study's conclusions are published this week in the open access scientific journal PLOS ONE. No bigger than a grain of rice, the horse-chestnut leaf-mining moth has spread rapidly through England and Wales since its arrival in London in 2002. The caterpillars of the moth 'tunnel' through the leaves of conker trees, causing them to turn brown and autumnal in appearance, even in the height of summer. read more