Dye death
A red dye normally used in lipsticks will kill fruit flies if they eat it and are then exposed to ultraviolet light. The Agricultural Research Service of the US department of agriculture has found a novel way to induce these flies to eat the dye, by mixing it with a combination of sugars, proteins and some enigmatic "other ingredients'. Beneficial insects such as bees ignore the mixture. In tests conducted so far in Texas and Hawaii, the dye killed almost all the fruit flies preying on citrus, mango and other fruit crops ( New Scientist , Vol 157, No 2126).
Related Content
- Report by the Kerala State Pollution Control Board regarding Periyar river pollution, 19/11/2024
- Judgment of the National Green Tribunal regarding pollution of river Yamuna at Agra and Mathura-Vrindavan due to discharge of untreated sewage in the river, 24/04/2024
- Global hepatitis report 2024: action for access in low- and middle-income countries
- 2023 disasters in numbers
- Major air polluters in Africa unmasked
- 2023 world air quality report