MOTHS IN A MAZE.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 40, 16 February 1929, Page 17 (Supplement)

MOTHS IN A MAZE.

Finding that from 30 to 50 per cent of the tomato crops in a certain district were ruined by grubs at the centre of the fruit, a professor of the Entomological Institute in Switzerland had the happy thought of seeing whether the moths laying the eggs from which these largae were hatched could be destroyed by electricity.

He installed eight electric lamps, varying from 80 to 200 watts, about three feet from the ground. The lamps were furnished with reflectors directed towards the soil, and underneath the lamps were placed basins filled with water on the top of which was poured a little petrol. The plan proved highly successful. The moths, attracted and bewildered by the lights, were drowned by thousands in the bowls beneath the lampa, and as a result eighty acres yielded perfect frait, while neighbouring lots of land not so protected lost from 30 to 80 per cent of their crops. The same method has been tried with equal success in connection with melon culture, and the fruit has been free from worms and graded as perfect.