Molecules: You'd better learn to live with them.
Friday's entry was on juvenile hormone, an epoxide-containing species (as in epoxy, see here and here). Today, I'll show you an example of how we've used it to battle bugs.
Methoprene doesn't contain an epoxide (many of the juvenile hormones don't), but it's a good mimic for JH. In its presence, juvenile insects can grow larger, but they can't achieve sexual maturity. No more adults, no more sex for the bugs, no more bugs for you. Like many insecticides, it has its own set of safety concerns, but this is far from the worst thing out there.
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