Garden custodians decided to use a “biological weapon” against pests.

“A hothouse is an isolated world without winds or rains. It's a heavenly place for a pest,” said First Category Engineer Sergey Maksimov.

Mealybugs attach to plants and secrete a powdery wax layer for protection. They feed on plant juices and excrete sugar onto leaves. The insects' excrement serves as a breeding ground for sooty blotch. Mealybugs are notoriously hard to deal with, as the expert shared, “We thought of using a chemical, which a cheap and effective way. However, because some of our exotic plants are fructiferous, we finally chose a biological option and are going to use lacewings.”

Lacewings are carnivorous insects which feed on mealybugs, ticks, aphids, and insect eggs. The University applied to obtain lacewings from the Tatarstan office of the Russian Agricultural Center, a federal research institution.

The observations will take more than a year, and then the results will be analyzed.

Source text: Rufina Gimaletdinova

Translation: Yury Nurmeev