Bio-insecticide Formulation for Pest Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for controlling western flower thrips and other insect pests in agriculture and horticulture are inefficient due to insecticide resistance, cryptic behavior, and the need for frequent and costly applications of chemical pesticides and biological controls.
Innovation Solution
A pest insect control formulation comprising a mixture of pheromones, kairomones, and an entomopathogenic fungus, specifically designed to attract and infect target pest insects, which then disseminate the biopesticide in the environment, attracting and infecting other insects of the same species.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If chemical insecticides are applied repeatedly and frequently to control thrips, then pest control effectiveness is maintained initially, but thrips develop resistance to a wide variety of pest-control products
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the fundamental parameter of pest control from chemical toxicity to biological infection. By using entomopathogenic fungi instead of chemical insecticides, the control mechanism shifts from neurotoxicity to parasitic infection, thereby eliminating resistance development while maintaining control effectiveness
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces the chemical mechanism of insecticide action with a biological mechanism using entomopathogenic fungi. The fungi naturally infect and kill thrips through spore germination and hyphal penetration, substituting chemical toxicity with biological parasitism
2Speed
If contact insecticides are used to control thrips, then rapid killing is achieved, but the insecticides do not reach where the thrips are located on the plant
Solution Approach 1:
The entomopathogenic fungi exhibit self-propagation and self-dissemination capabilities. Spores are carried by thrips movement and environmental vectors to new locations, and the fungi actively grow hyphae to penetrate and infect thrips wherever they are located on the plant, eliminating the need for comprehensive chemical coverage
3Ease of operation
If systemic insecticides are used to control thrips, then the insecticides reach thrips throughout the plant, but they do not act rapidly enough to prevent virus transmission
Solution Approach 1:
The entomopathogenic fungi are applied in advance to the plant environment, where they remain dormant until thrips contact them. Upon contact, the fungi rapidly germinate and infect the thrips, providing both preliminary presence and rapid action to prevent virus transmission before thrips can move to healthy plants
4Reliability
If biological control using entomopathogenic fungi is applied frequently to control soil-dwelling thrips stages, then mortality rates improve, but the cost of control increases
Solution Approach 1:
The entomopathogenic fungi establish continuous presence in the soil and plant environment, maintaining ongoing infection pressure on thrips populations. This continuous biological control action reduces the need for repeated applications, thereby lowering overall control costs while maintaining high mortality rates
Solution Approach 2:
The fungi self-propagate and self-disseminate in the environment, reducing the need for repeated human applications. Once introduced, the fungi persist in the soil and on plants, continuously infecting thrips without requiring additional inputs, thereby reducing control costs
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This method effectively controls pest insect populations with minimal pesticide use, utilizing the target insects as vectors to spread the biopesticide, thereby reducing the need for frequent applications and minimizing environmental and health risks.
Implementation Method 1
at least one bio-insecticide acting by contact consisting of an entomopathogenic fungus
Implementation Method 2
at least one pheromone and at least one kairomone as the pest insect attractant
Implementation Method 3
The use of a combination of pheromones or kairomone to target better the pest insect with a biopesticide
Implementation Method 4
which then disseminate the biopesticide in the environment, attracting and infecting other insects of the same species
Data Source
AI summary
A formulation containing an attractant specific for a targeted pest insect and an entomopathogenic bio-insecticide to control pest insect populations. By attracting the insect pest into a trapping device, loading it with the formulation and then, at exiting the trapping device, the insect will disseminate in the field where it will eventually die. Wherever some formulated material will have been distributed in the field, further fellow creatures of the same species will be attracted and infected, thus multiplying the effect of the primary trapping device. The pest insect is used as the vector of its own demise, effectively using a minimal amount and limited applications of pesticides of biological origin.