The State - News from Aug. 12, 1985

Willow trees are actually hurting themselves by producing a natural bug repellent, John Smiley, a biologist at the University of California, Irvine, concludes in a study published in Science magazine. Smiley said the Sierra willow trees produce an aspirin-like chemical to repel insects, but the compound actually attracts a species of beetles that use it to make their own insecticides.