THE secret of one of North America’s most destructive plant pests has been revealed: it wreaks havoc by tuning in to its victims’ defences. The discovery spells bad news for next-generation insecticides designed to kill pests by stimulating plants into making pest-killing toxins.
As well as eating most varieties of corn, the corn earworm (Helicoverpa zea) eats tomatoes, green vegetables and cotton, making it the most widespread pest in North America. Close relatives of the pest also decimate crops in China, Australia and Europe. Since its introduction to the US mainland from Hawaii in the 1930s, the earworm has grown…
