Scientists Halt Moth Explosion by Persuading Some to be Gay

Published: August 8, 2007, 9:20 am

Scientists hoping to halt a population explosion of brown-tailed moths (above) in Yorkshire, UK have come up with a novel solution: "Scientists are using a powder that spreads female pheromones, the smell of sexual attraction, [that] confuses the male moths, thus slowing the breeding. The powder is left near breeding grounds and, when larvae hatch, they are coated in it. Other male moths are then tempted naturally to make contact with them, believing them to be female. Moths have small brains and dreadful eyesight." Men living and working at a Royal National Lifeboat Institute at Spurn Point "were developing rashes and breathing problems from the poisonous hairs of the larvae blown in the wind" because there were so many moths. The pheremones seem to have worked and have not affected other insects, according to Andrew Gibson of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust: "They are species-specific and are doing the job." The Times Online notes the humanity in their mission: "Many local

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