Leaf-Eating Caterpillars Use Their Poop to Trick Plants

by Elizabeth Newbern | September 15, 2015 06:53am ET

Caterpillars that munch on corn leaves have developed a clever way to get the most nutrients from their meals: They use their poop to trick the plants into lowering their defenses.

Scientists at Pennsylvania State University recently discovered that fall army worm caterpillars (Spodoptera frugiperda) can send chemical signals to plants through their poop, or frass.

"It turns out that the caterpillar frass tricks the plant into sensing that it is being attacked by fungal pathogens," study co-author Dawn Luthe, a professor of plant stress biology at Pennsylvania State University, said in a statement.

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