Wednesday, December 14, 2022

Invasive Species Harnessed to Control Invasive Species



Humans have a long history of importing invasive species to places they shouldn't be, and then importing another species to eat them, after which the predatory species becomes an invasive pest. It's like that old children's rhyme that begins, "There was an old woman who swallowed a fly..." Tom Scott shows us how the Oregon Department of Agriculture is raising samurai wasps to help control the invasive brown marmorated stink bug. Is this really a good idea? Scientists struggled with the decision for so long that the wasps made their way to the US without being invited anyway, so they decided to just go with it.

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