How cowpeas react to attack.(Science Update)(Brief article)

Lacking as they do the sensory organs of animals, it's been a mystery how plants perceive perils in their environments. Now research has shown that cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata) detect and respond to degradation products when their tissues are chewed on by fall armyworms. This is the first time the researchers observed such plant response to insect attack, although they'd previously noted the ability of certain plants to indirectly perceive, and respond to, assaults from pathogenic ...