Whiteflies are such a pest because they hack the way plants communicate
Spoofing a natural defence system
WHEN SOME plants are attacked by herbivores they fight back by producing irritants and toxins as their leaves get chewed up. Certain insects, however, can resist these defences. Among the best at doing this, and hence one of the most troublesome crop pests, is the whitefly. Remarkably, as new research shows, whiteflies enhance their dastardly deeds by hacking a biological early-warning communications system used by plants.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “A bug in the system”
Science & technology March 30th 2019
From the March 30th 2019 edition
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