Pest Management Professional, December 2017
DiD you know No word on whether the progeny of Lusius malfoyi would be known as Draco malfoyi IMM as envIronMentalIsts Previous research has found that certain caterpillar species are capable of digesting polyethylene breaking down the chemical that makes bags and other plastic objects take decades to disintegrate But researchers at Lubbock based Texas Tech University wanted to know more They fed polyethylene to Indianmeal moth Plodia interpunctella or IMM larvae and studied the microbial mix found in the larvaes guts There they found certain bacteria that wasnt present in the control group that was fed only bran and wheat While its doubtful that mass populations of IMM will be turned loose to shrink a landfill anytime soon the researchers predict that perfecting the bacteria ratio may result in a spray that can be used to break down polyethylene in the future entoMologIst looks to Harry Potter for wasP naMe Tom Saunders a professor at the University of Auckland in New Zealand made headlines this fall when he named a newly discovered non stinging wasp Lusius malfoyi The taxonomy was inspired by Lucius Malfoy a villain in the Harry Potter series People see wasps as villains as the bad guys the doctoral candidate told CNN But the truth is that the vast majority of wasp species are either neutral or beneficial from a human standpoint Just as Lucius Malfoy is pardoned after separating from Voldemorts allies Im asking people to pardon wasps in order to restore their reputation as interesting important creatures PHOTO TOMSAUNDERS CO NZ ABOUT CHOE LABORATORY UC RIVERSIDE More onlIne Cnn com 2017 10 10 asia harry potter wasplusius malfoyi lucius malfoy More onlIne sciencenews org article key breaking downplastic may be caterpillar guts 30 December 2017 Pest Management Professional mypmp net
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