My Technology

Involved with the variety of pests and insects that wreak havoc on crops, animals, and humans, the U.S. Division of Agriculture has adopted a new approach in it's steady pest control battle, and this novel concept is predicated on eradication of a insect's male population. The federal authorities, through their Department of Agriculture, has released the 12 months end report that states that one of the promising insect control strategies entails male eradication through potent attractants.

One small Pacific island, just north of Guam, was used for example of the potential of attractants. Oriental fruit flies have been utterly eradicated there with their use. The experiment was carried out to prove attractants as helpful in this manner. The chemical used within the experiment, methyl eugenol, was created in a laboratory atmosphere and has been demonstrated to be practically irresistible for the focused male oriental fruit fly, luring them to the insecticide and away from the precious crops. Naturally, by eradicating the males there was no additional replica within the species and it eventually was eliminated over the generation.

The Division of Agriculture has mentioned that these latest experiments performed to seek out what chemical substances feminine bugs use to draw the male members of their species has shown several promising new chemical substances that might be used. Other species during which attractants have been developed include houseflies, lesser peach borers and cabbage loppers. By bringing the insect males in using chemo-sterilants, which are chemical substances efficient in eliminating insect's reproductive skills, this research marked the first step forward in dominating insect pests.

Scientists at the moment are hoping to isolate the precise chemical that allows them to attract the male members of the species so they'll be capable to mass produce it inexpensively. Chemo-sterilization is a method of pest extermination that has offered encouraging results. By experimenting with houseflies, boll weevils and many other pests, this idea was discovered.

For instance, in an attempt to end the infestation of screwworm flies in southwestern livestock, gamma radiation was used to sterilize the male population. Several years ago this extermination process was utilized within the southeast states, with very optimistic results. The tactic behind the screwworm eradication was releasing sterilized flies, created in a laboratory, into the native inhabitants to try and mate. As a result of the female screwworms solely mate as soon as earlier than they die, the actual fact they're mating with sterile flies means the inhabitants fails to develop and in reality decreases severely.

The Division of Agriculture hopes that they're on the right track in direction of eradicating nasty pests like boll weevils, houseflies, and cotton pests to make issues easier for farmers. The scientists have been in a position to both discover a substance in cotton crops that turns off male weevils, and also found one other one that pulls them. The Agriculture Department began enterprise these efforts as a result of the federal crop insurance covers millions of dollars in crop manufacturing investments, in order that they wish to be sure that this massive funding stays secure. The government company studies that, insured in opposition to the affects of pure disasters, millions of acres producing a whole lot of 1000's of crops have been protected.          

MF