voa news - Steve Baragona
Scientists are pitting insects against insects in a battle to control an invasive species.
U.S. Department of Agriculture researchers have released tiny parasitic wasps in forests in Maryland to attack the emerald ash borer, an invader from China that is devastating forests across the northern United States.
By the end of this decade, this insect will have done an estimated $10 billion of damage nationwide, according to one study.
Plant and animal hitchhikers traversing the planet in our globalized economy have made invasive species a $1.4 trillion-a-year problem worldwide, says the United Nations.
But rather than spraying pesticides that risk doing additional harm, the USDA scientists are bringing the invasive insect's natural predators in from Asia to try to restore balance.
