In 2017, the tiny waxworm went from zero to hero as researchers discovered that the plastic eating caterpillars could actually help solve one of the most important environmental issues in the world: plastic waste.

The caterpillar will chump through plastic, like polyethylene, a substance that is harmful and non-biodegradable and that also blocks landfills and seas. Now researchers have a much greater idea of how the grub can do this— and it has gotten down to the gut bacteria or microbiome. The results published in the Royal Society B journal Proceedings on Tuesday may direct efforts to find an efficient plastic waste management biodegradation system.”We discovered that waxworm caterpillars are equipped with gut microbes that are essential to the plastic biodegradation cycle, “said Christophe LeMoine, an associate professor and chair of biology at Brandon University.

Are Plastic eating caterpillars a Quick solution?

The larvae of the larger wax moth is considered a pest in the wild as it acts in bee colonies as a parasite, chewing away at the wax from the honeycombs. The plastic eating capabilities of the caterpillars were accidentally discovered when a young beekeeper in Spain plucked some of the bees from their beehives and placed them in a plastic bag.The larvae of the larger wax moth is considered a pest in the wild as it acts in bee colonies as a parasite, chewing away at the wax from the honeycombs. The plastic-eating capabilities were accidentally discovered when a young beekeeper in Spain plucked some of the bees from their beehives and placed them in a plastic bag.

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Gradually the worms began eating tiny holes in the jar, chewing through the plastic at an alarming rate. The beekeeper, Federica Bertocchini, who at the Cantabrian Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology also happened to be a physicist, then put together a test to see how effective the little grubs were at breaking down plastics. The team found that the wax worms were breaking down plastic polyethylene bags faster than other methods. LeMoine said the waxworms were not an appropriate response to plastic waste, with much more research to be done to understand how the caterpillars and microbes work together in their digestive tract until they can be adapted and replicated on a wide scale.

One problem may be how to treat the plastic-fed poisonous waste that the caterpillars excrete. Interestingly, although they found that some gut bacteria could live on plastic for more than a year, it took longer for the plastic to break down than when the larvae ate it, indicating that the caterpillar was instrumental in this process.