New bio-weapon that could put the bite on midges

THEY have long been the scourge of the Scottish countryside.

But a new bio-weapon being developed could obliterate the dreaded midge.

Researchers at Glasgow University hope their environmentally-safe insecticide could also prevent crop-eating pests ravaging farms around the world while not harming other insects including bees.

The news comes as UN agency the World Food Programme warns that East Africa faces a famine of ‘biblical proportions’, as huge plagues of locusts devastate countries including Ethiopia and Kenya.

The UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID) has just pledged £18million to the UN’s emergency appeal to help combat the problem

Glasgow University’s Professor Shireen Davies hopes the eco-friendly insecticides could provide the answer. Molecular scientists are developing greener, peptide-based insecticides to impair insects’ ‘critical’ bodily functions, including ability to eat and drink.

Professor Davies said: ‘Initially, we need to develop the product for well-developed markets in Europe, the US and Asia.

‘But the solutions we are adopting could be used for locusts in due course, once increased usage drives the costs down.

There’s no reason why this technology cannot be used to work against insect vectors of disease and even midges.’

International Development Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said: ‘Vulnerable communities are on the brink of starvation because of the biggest locust outbreak in decades.

‘British expertise is playing an important role in equipping companies with the right tools to combat the swarms.’