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CO2 may play an important role in attracting the rootworm, “but roots are emitting a lot of different compounds,” Eilers says.

The western corn rootworm beetle grows to only the length of a grain of rice.

In the months leading up to the bee crisis, clothianidin, developed by Bayer Crop Science from a class of insecticides called neonicotinoids, had been used up and down the Rhine following an outbreak of corn rootworm.

There, a tiny introduced parasitic wasp called Trichogramma brassicae has become a key weapon against the corn rootworm, a major pest.

Last year, the E.P.A. approved the first RNAi-based insecticides for use against another pest, corn rootworm.