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Article: Moth that's killing off our conkers; EXPERTS SAY INFESTATION THREATENS FUTURE OF HORSE CHESTNUT TREE.
- Article from:
- The Evening Standard (London, England)
- Article date:
- October 12, 2005
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Solo Syndication Limited. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: NEALE ADAMS
IT STARTED as a blight on the back gardens of west London.
Now the advance of the horse chestnut leaf miner moth, whose larvae devour the tree's leaves, is so rapid that some conservationists fear for the very future of the species - and the traditional autumn conker.
The leaf miners (Cameraria ohridella) were first discovered in Britain in 2002 when pensioner Marian Comfort spotted them in her back garden in Wimbledon.
Recognising them as the same pests that had decimated horse chestnut trees across Europe, she alerted the Forestry Commission.
Now the commission, which has been studying the spread of the ...