subject: Unique Use of Chemicals For Insect Eradication [print this page] The United States Department of Agriculture has been enduring an ongoing struggle that involves having to ward off numerous pest invasions that can ruin crops and make life miserable for nearby residents, but they has stumbled across a technique that is making major inroads that focus on the eradication of male insect population. Studies conducted by branches of the federal government, and coordinated by the department of Agriculture, show that the potential removal of some species is being accomplished with powerful chemicals.
The agency reported that, just north of Guam, the entire oriental fruit fly population on one tiny island in the Pacific was destroyed through the use of this compelling attractant. Providing evidence of this particular chemical's potent impact on the pest population, was the reason this test was undertaken. Methyl Eugenol, a chemical compound created in a lab, demonstrated itself to be impossible to resist for the males in the Oriental Fruit Flies species; they were led away to an insecticides located a distance from the crops. The test further showed, not surprisingly, that with the male members of the species removed the rest of the population slowly died out.
These synthesized attractants, along with ever-increasing list of lures coming from female insects themselves, prove effective in attracting males in their particular species, according to the Agriculture Department's recent studies. Other species in which attractants have been developed include houseflies, lesser peach borers and cabbage loppers. These chemo-sterilants, which destroy a pest's ability to reproduce, mark the initial step in controlling insect populations by attracting males specifically.
Scientists continue to look at the attractants so that they can copy the compounds to be sold for a less expensive price. The early indications are that chemo-sterilization are a good strategy to use when trying to achieve eradication. By experimenting with houseflies, boll weevils and many other pests, this idea was discovered.
For example, in an attempt to end the infestation of screwworm flies in southwestern livestock, gamma radiation was used to sterilize the male population. This method, used a few years back, proved highly effective in eradicating this harmful pest. Lots of sterile flies were released from the lab to seek native fly mates. Because the female screwworms only mate once before they die, the fact they are mating with sterile flies means the population fails to grow and in fact decreases severely.
The report claims eradication of agriculture blights like the boll weevil, cotton pest and houseflies is possible now. The battle against boll weevils is progressing as an attractant chemical has been discovered in male weevils, and a chemical repellent synthesized in cotton has also been discovered. The Agriculture Department has indicated that in the past there were millions of dollars of crops that had to be protected with federal crop insurance, a rate that was one of the highest ever. The agency said that several hundred thousand crops spanning millions of acres in the country were federally insured to protect against natural disasters.
