Re:Plastic-eating caterpillars: An escape from a shopping ba...
by YokoZar on Thursday November 09, 2017 @03:59AM
(#15660887)
The waxworms in the article eat polyethylene. Common meal worms are capable of eating another plastic, polystyrene -- you can observe this yourself by just grabbing some from a pet store and putting them in a styrofoam container for a few days.
In the case of the mealworms, the digestion is coming from gut bacteria, but it remains unclear how waxworms are able to do it with polyethylene.
In the case of the mealworms, the digestion is coming from gut bacteria, but it remains unclear how waxworms are able to do it with polyethylene.