Ladybirds — those tiny, spotted insects— are beloved by many, with some believing their bright colours and polka dot livery bring good luck. Now, pushing beyond the realm of luck and into agriculture, the small beetle is taking on a new role as a pest-eating assassin, thanks to new research from Murdoch University. Murdoch University PhD researcher Shovon Chandra Sarkar has successfully trained ladybirds to eat pests, namely, the highly invasive tomato potato psyllid.
"I worked on two ladybirds, one is native to Australia and another one introduced in 2002 in Queensland, and now it's all over in Australia," he said. "They both are commercially available ... other ladybirds we did not try, but maybe we can in the future." Both of these types of ladybirds can be bought by farmers online and Sarkar said they can easily be trained to eat pests.
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