Sprouts Bad For Bugs

By Leila Sattary

Children and greenfly may have something else in common, apart from being little pests - neither is keen on Brussels sprouts. The difference is this: while sprouts are nourishing for children, aphids (more commonly known as greenfly) that feed on sprouts won’t grow big and strong, and their numbers will likely start to dwindle.

If you’re an aphid, cabbages - not sprouts - are the veg of choice. Not only do they make you larger and healthier in comparison to your sprout-munching peers, you’ll have more friends to chat to while you munch away. That’s according to researchers at Imperial College London and Wageningen University in the Netherlands, who say the smaller, sprout-eating aphids are having a negative impact on the ecosystem as a whole. Their research was published in Science this month.

But who can tell the difference between little greenfly and littler greenfly? Well the bugs that eat them can, and wasps much prefer to eat fat juicy ones. When there are more sprouts than cabbages around, wasps have to go for smaller pickings and so grow to be smaller themselves. This knock-on effect could reduce diversity in the ecosystem, say scientists.

And before anyone jots this down as a valid excuse for Christmas dinner next year, Dr Frank Van Veen reminds you that, “Our aphid study certainly does not mean sprouts aren't good for humans to eat — our nutritional requirements differ enormously from those of insects.”

I wonder whether the obvious answer is to stop planting Brussels sprouts all together? It would solve a lot of problems.

Read more of Leila's articles here.

Love bugs? Then maybe you should try these :

- Loved up - That loving Flea-ing
- Clever - Pavlov's Bugs
- Nasty - Transsexual bugs have sick sex
- Cosmic - Spaced out Salmonella

Image: Luc Viatour

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