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Ozone increase leaves bugs in the dark

Increases in ground-level ozone make it hard for insects to interact with the plants they rely on.

Insects rely on olfactory sensors in their antennae to detect small amounts of organic compounds emitted from plants. However, increases in ozone degrade these compounds to the point that they often no longer stimulate the insects’ receptors.

Despite thoughts that increases in higher levels of ozone could help increase crop production due to predators not being able to locate pollinators, these new studies have instead found that crop production would be harmed due to loss of pollination.

Read more at Penn State

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