Word: insects
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...unique strain of cotton was developed by Sally Fox, an entomologist who was originally looking for a naturally insect-resistant variety of cotton. She came across "coyote brown" cottonseeds that had been collected by the Department of Agriculture during the 1930s and '40s and launched a company called Natural Cotton Colours. Besides making the cotton into Natural jeans (retail price: about $27), Levi's is offering colored cotton shorts and jackets. Even the advertising attached to the jeans flogs the "natural" theme: it is printed on recycled denim. For the moment, Natural jeans are available in beige, brown and green...
...attempt to determine the effects of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels on the ecosystem, Bazzaz and Fajer also examined the reactions of various insect populations to such nutrient deficient plants...
...agent of disaster is a 3-mm (one-tenth-in.) insect known to scientists as the poinsettia strain of the sweet-potato whitefly but to farmers as the Superbug. Millions of these voracious insects have spread over the Imperial Valley, massing on the undersides of leaves and sucking plants dry, weakening or killing them in the process. Farmers first noticed the flies getting worse in July, and by September swarms of them looked like white clouds. They covered windshields and got stuck between people's teeth. Farm workers had trouble inhaling and eventually had to wear masks. Not since...
...Superbug's taste, and the infestation there was never as serious. But when the fly arrived in Southern California, probably in a fruit basket or vegetable shipment, it felt right at home in the dry weather and summer temperatures that can reach 46 degreesC (115 degreesF). Because the insect is happy eating some 500 varieties of plants (one of the only vegetables it doesn't seem to like is asparagus), it found the fertile Imperial Valley to be a veritable smorgasbord...
Liem, who is also Henry Bryant Bigelow Professor of Icthyology, sought to use his expertise in marine life to solve Dunster's insect infestation. His personal request: "I wish I had ant-eating fish...