Caterpillar Found to Eat Shopping Bags, Suggesting Diodegradable Solution to Plastic Pollution
24th April 2017
Scientists have found that a caterpillar commercially bred for fishing bait has the ability to biodegrade polyethylene: one of the toughest and most used plastics, frequently found clogging up landfill sites in the form of plastic shopping bags.
The wax worm, the larvae of the common insect Galleria mellonella, or greater wax moth, is a scourge of beehives across Europe. In the wild, the worms live as parasites in bee colonies. Wax moths lay their eggs inside hives where the worms hatch and grow on beeswax – hence the name.
As always when the eco-fruits panic about something, Nature can cope. Trust Nature.