Plants and insects have been together for 500 million years. Each form of life has made accommodations for the other. Why are some plants attacked and others left alone? Do some plants invite attack? Can plants ‘signal’ their vulnerability to pest attack?
Plants that are weak and stressed send out signals that pest insects read. These signals take the form of vibrations, scent molecules and gaseous energy.
The pest insects have ‘radar dishes’ that look exactly like the radar dishes that man has built and use their receiving facilities to find what they need.
The signals emitted by plants vary, depending on their nutrition and metabolic
condition and insects can tell the difference.
Fulfilling ancient principals of environmental and natural selection, it is ‘The Duty’ of pest insects and disease pathogens to attack and feed on poorly fed, weak and disadvantaged plants, leaving relatively undamaged vital, better fed, well adapted plants.
