For the first 15 years of research into using native nematodes — which are microscopic worms — to combat the beetle, researchers focused on the Champion farm of John E. Peck. They realized the nematodes were turning up in unexpected places, probably by hitching a ride on a human or on farm machinery.

By 2007, researchers were working on a widespread way to distribute the nematodes, peppering 120 fields in six counties with them since 2008. 
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