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Take Two

Study: bugs eat thousands of pounds of trash per year

By Take Two Staff
Published Dec 2, 2014
BOGOR, INDONESIA - APRIL 05: Ants enter a jar which is used for breeding on April 5, 2014 in Bogor, Indonesia. Breeders can produce 300 pounds of eggs and hundreds of thousands of ants per month. The ant eggs are an alternative food that is rich in protein and vitamins, with local market demand for the ants and their eggs in Indonesia very high. (Photo by Nurcholis Anhari Lubis/Getty Images)
BOGOR, INDONESIA - APRIL 05: Ants enter a jar which is used for breeding on April 5, 2014 in Bogor, Indonesia. Breeders can produce 300 pounds of eggs and hundreds of thousands of ants per month. The ant eggs are an alternative food that is rich in protein and vitamins, with local market demand for the ants and their eggs in Indonesia very high. (Photo by Nurcholis Anhari Lubis/Getty Images)
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Nurcholis Anhari Lubis/Getty Images
)

Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.

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Study: bugs eat thousands of pounds of trash per year
Scientists studied just how much food bugs eat within a small area of New York City and they found that it could be the equivalent of 600k potato chips per year.

A new study gives the word "litterbug" a whole new meaning. A team from North Carolina State University found that bugs love to eat food they find on the ground. Sounds totally obvious, but the amount they can consume is kind of mind blowing.

They focused on a small area of New York City and they found that the bugs could consume the equivalent of 600,000 potato chips in one year. Just how important are bugs to keeping our cities clean?

A Martinez speaks with Elsa Youngstead - a research associate at North Carolina State University and lead author of the paper.