POLYSTYRENE MUNCHERS!

Photo caption: Polystyrene littering one of our great crested newt ponds.

Expanded polystyrene may make convenient and light protective packaging but, like so many plastics, it is a real menace in the environment. It is highly resistant to biodegradation and breaks down into microscopic particles that can get into the food chain with possible toxic effects. The photo above shows the kind of problem we at Betts have with it. Ten years on, we are still finding polystyrene particles on this site even though we have spent great effort in cleaning it up!

Enter a darkling beetle from north-eastern Asia called Plesiophthalmus davidis Fairman, 1878 (Tenebrionidae). This little animal, which belongs to the same genus as the mealworm beetle whose larvae are sold in bird food, usually feeds on dead wood. Their symbiotic intestinal bacteria are able to break down cellulose, but scientists have recently found that they can also digest expanded polystyrene[1]. 

The researchers suggest there are many potential polystyrene-degrading insects and that they may also be able to isolate the bacteria responsible from the insects’ gut flora. Obviously, this has great potential in the fight against polystyrene pollution – and our great crested newts on Betts Estates sites would appreciate it, too!

 © Betts Ecology

[1] Seongwook Woo, Intek Song, Hyung Joon Cha. Fast and facile biodegradation of polystyrene by the gut microbial flora of Plesiophthalmus davidis larvae. DOI: 10.1128/AEM.01361-20.