Source: Mick Kulikowski, WRAL TECHWIRE, 8/9/19

Researchers at North Carolina State University have shown that “sticky” hairlike structures on tobacco leaves can help attract beneficial insects that scavenge on other insects trapped on the leaves, increasing leaf yield and reducing pest damage to plant structures. In a study examining pests of tobacco plants and opportunistic insects that eat the pests, researchers show that sticky glandular trichomes on tobacco leaves trap insects that aren’t adapted to interacting with perilous plant surfaces.

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