From Dave Reay, University of Essex
As someone who despairs each year when my garden plants are ravaged by hordes
of aphids, I saw a ray of hope in the article this week about luminous nits
(24 June, p 6).
As I do not like to use insecticides, I rely on a combination of help from
ladybirds and squashing the aphids between my fingers—neither of which
seems to keep them at bay for long. However, if Sydney Spiesel’s idea of a
shampoo that makes the eggs of hair lice luminous could be adapted for use as a
garden spray, the offending aphids could be hunted out wherever on the plant
they were hiding and dealt with accordingly.
Such a treatment should, as in the case of nits, allow 100 per cent
clearance, and so avoid the usual reinfestation of the plant by well-hidden
survivors.
Colchester
