University of Pretoria researchers are helping save the South African pine industry from the destructive Sirex wasp, through a form of biological control.

As part of the South African Sirex Control Programme, they are distributing millions of microscopic worms called nematodes to pine plantations. One type of the worm penetrates the wasp larvae and thwarts their reproduction.

The programme has drastically reduced Sirex-related pine losses by R404-million, according to Forestry South Africa.

Click here for an article by Business Insider SA on this initiative.