African armyworm "S. exempta" larvae feed almost exclusively on Poaceae, also called Gramineae. Poaceae is a family of flowering grasses which includes cereal grasses and the grasses of grasslands and pastures. The species targets most cereal crops, including maize, sorghum, rice, millet, and other grasses. Young caterpillars are also known to feed on wheat and oat seedlings. The larvae eat the upper and lower surfaces of the plant tissue first, preferring to feed on younger and recently germinated crops. Studies have shown that two larvae can completely consume a 10-day-old maize plant with 6-7 leaves, indicating the devastating potential of a high-density
Less-is-better effect Less-is-better effect The less-is-better effect is a type of preference reversal that occurs when the lesser or smaller alternative of a proposition is preferred when evaluated separately, but not evaluated together. The term was first proposed by Christopher Hsee. In a 1998 study, Hsee, a professor at the Graduate School of Business of The University of Chicago, discovered a less-is-better effect in three contexts: "(1) a person giving a $45 scarf (from scarves ranging from $5-$50) as a gift was perceived to be more generous than one giving a $55 coat (from coats ranging from $50-$500); (2) an overfilled ice