THE irony is sweet: the smell of the potato plant could spell the end for the
dreaded Colorado beetle, which ravages millions of dollars’ worth of potato
crops every year. Using powerful aromas extracted from potato leaves,
researchers in the US intend to lure the insects to their death.
Joseph Dickens and his colleagues at the US Agricultural Research Service’s
field station in Beltsville, Maryland, have isolated half a dozen compounds from
spud leaves which draw Colorado beetles to their meal. By measuring the strength
of signals from electrodes implanted in the beetle’s antennae they screened for
the most active…
