The worst U.S. crop pests are immigrants. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is usually quick to import the enemies of each new pest, but to adapt these delicate and specialized creatures to life in a new country often takes time. And if the wrong enemy is brought in, the cure may be worse than the disease.*
Last week the department announced that one of the worst crop-eating insects, the European corn borer, has neared the end of its reign of terror in U.S. cornfields. Its conqueror: a fly named Lydella stabulans grisescens, which is mainly responsible for reducing the losses from corn...
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