Wasps, regarded by many as a pest, could be the salvation of Britain鈥檚 imperilled conker trees currently under threat by an 鈥榓lien鈥� species of moth that is rapidly spreading damage across the country鈥檚 horse chestnut trees.

Academics from the Universities of Hull and Bristol, who have teamed up with thousands of schoolchildren across the country as part of a national Conker Tree Science project, are now asking for the public鈥檚 help to see how successful wasps are at attacking the moths.

The 鈥榟orse chestnut leaf miner鈥�, an 鈥榓lien鈥� (non-native) moth,  has caterpillars which live inside the leaves, forming distinctive patches of damage called 鈥榣eaf mines鈥�. Up to 700 leaf mines have been recorded on a single leaf and the damage caused by large numbers of larvae can be striking. Severely damaged leaves shrivel and turn brown by mid summer and fall early, well before the autumn, giving the impression that the tree is dead.

Although the moths do not kill the trees directly it appears that they weaken the trees, which then produce smaller conkers and may become more susceptible to lethal diseases.

The team have discovered that tiny parasitic wasps, related to the familiar large, striped wasps, act as natural pest controllers against the moths.  No one knows how successful these wasps are at keeping moth numbers down so Dr Darren Evans and Dr Michael Pocock are inviting members of the public to take part in a national to look at the rate of attack as well as monitoring the rate of spread of this 鈥榓lien鈥� insect.

Dr Darren Evans from the University of Hull explains: 鈥淲e are essentially asking schoolchildren and members of the public to be our 鈥榣ab assistants鈥�.  Parasitic wasps are vital pest controllers not only against these 鈥榓lien鈥� moths attacking conker trees, but also for garden and farm insect pests.

鈥淎苍测 alien species is a major threat to biodiversity because all organisms live in relation to each other and once an imbalance occurs, the whole system could begin to unravel. The 鈥榟orse chestnut leaf miner鈥� is just one example of how destructive an alien species can be.鈥�

Dr Michael Pocock from the University of Bristol, added: 鈥淲e need more help to fully understand how important these wasps are, and so we are asking any member of the public to get involved - all you need is a conker tree with the 鈥榓lien鈥� leaf-mining moth. Pick a leaf this week, put it in a plastic bag and see what insects come out in two weeks time. It鈥檚 an easy, but important way to add to scientific knowledge.鈥�