Bugs Beware - Aliens On March

Australians are going to introduce a wasp which hopefully will kill off the silverleaf whitefly. The whitefly is a big problem in Australia and was also an alien in the first place.

From Bugs Beware - Aliens On March

FOR a creature just the width of a human fingernail, eretmocerus hayati is a pretty gruesome wasp.

Eretmocerus chases silverleaf whitefly, and takes its cue from Hollywood in the method of its destruction.

An adult eretmocerus lays its eggs beneath the juvenile whitefly. The fledgling eretmocerus then eats its way into the whitefly, before gradually eating it from the inside out.

Paul de Barro, from CSIRO Entomology, hopes that millions of eretmocerus he and fellow researchers are about to release across Queensland will cause havoc to the whitefly population.

"If you've seen the Aliens film, where they eat from the inside out � well, that's what these parasites will do to the whitefly," Professor de Barro told AAP.

The eretmocerus forms the frontline in a new effort to control the silverleaf whitefly which hitched a ride from the United States in 1994.

Since its arrival, the whitefly has caused havoc for Australian vegetable and cotton growers.

Click on the link for the full article...

They�re hiring an alien to assassinate an alien.
Good thinking Let�s hope it gives the desired effect and doesn�t backfire.

Is this silverleaf whitefly indigenous to Australia? Isn't it hazardous to kill of an entire population, as everything in nature is in balance?

Originally posted by LadyV
Is this silverleaf whitefly indigenous to Australia? Isn't it hazardous to kill of an entire population, as everything in nature is in balance?

Well it hitched a ride from the United States in 1994, the article says.
So the question is how much balance since then...

Well I'm scared. The cane toads were supposed to wipe out the pests eating the sugar cane then die out... that plan didn't work out too well did it. Will this wasp have a natural enemy in Australia that can keep its numbers under control?

Why is it that aussies always hire animals to assassinate other animals. This has been done before and it just didnt work.

Why is it that aussies always hire animals to assassinate other animals.

Because the SAS would be charged with mass genocide

So whatever happened to the Silver Whitefly?

Right so the Whitefly came over and is wrecking the place. So they bring in thes wasps. then to kill the wasps they bring in some.......something that eats them, but then they get out of hand so they bring in some dogs, then lions, then komodo dragons etc etc.....

They will never learn....

There once was a country that swallowed a whitefly.
Why oh why did they swallow a whitefly...

Here's a great idea: lets cross breed some bees to make a bee that produces tons of honey and is great for crops! wait...