Reduce insecticide spraying by using ant pheromones to catch crop pests


Date:
August 27, 2020
Source:
University of Bath
Summary:
Scientists have developed a molecular sponge that soaks up the
pheromones of ants and releases them slowly to attract the pests
to an insecticide trap.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Scientists at the Universities of Bath and Sussex have developed a
new system that slowly releases ant pheromones to attract pests to an insecticide bait.

This means that instead of spraying the whole crop with pesticides,
traps can be placed in specific areas for more targeted protection.


========================================================================== Leaf-cutting ants are major pest species of agriculture and forestry in
many areas of the tropics causing an estimated $8 billion damage each
year to eucalyptus forestry in Brazil alone.

Traditional pesticides often degrade quickly and are not specific to
particular pests, resulting in substantial wastage of pest control
products, environmental contamination and harmful effects on other
insects.

The team of chemists and chemical engineers at Bath used molecular sponges called metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), to soak up the alarm pheromones
of leaf cutter ants and then slowly release them to attract the insects
to a trap.

In addition to experiments, they used computational modelling to simulate
the movement of the pheromone molecule inside the pores of the MOFs
to predict which structures would give the optimum capacity and speed
of release.

They found that by altering the chemical groups within the basic framework structure, they could adjust the speed of release of the pheromones so
that the chemicals could be released over a period of several months
rather than days.



========================================================================== Field trials of the system by University of Sussex researchers in a
eucalyptus plantation in Brazil showed that the pheromone-loaded MOFs
had the desired effect in attracting the ants to a trap.

Professor Andrew Burrows, Head of the Department of Chemistry at
the University of Bath and Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the
University's Centre for Sustainable and Circular Technologies, led the
study that is published in the journal Dalton Transactions.

He said: "Insect pheromones have been used previously for attracting
pests, but the trouble is they are quite volatile, so their effects
don't last very long.

"Our metal-organic frameworks act as a kind of sponge where the pheromones
can be encapsulated in the pores and then released slowly over time.

"Our proof-of-principle study shows that these materials are effective
in delivering the pheromone and that the insects respond normally to it.

"This system could reduce the amount of pesticides sprayed on a crop
and could be particularly useful for high value crops in small areas.

"We're currently looking at a range of other insect messenger chemicals including those that can be used to control moth pest species in UK
fruit orchards."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Bath. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Harina Amer Hamzah, Daniel Rixson, Joseph Paul-Taylor, Huan V. Doan,
Christopher Dadswell, Gavin W. Roffe, Arun Sridhar, Claire
L. Hobday, Charlie Wedd, Tina Du"ren, William O. H. Hughes, John
Spencer, Andrew D.

Burrows. Inclusion and release of ant alarm pheromones from
metal-organic frameworks. Dalton Transactions, 2020; 49 (30):
10334 DOI: 10.1039/ D0DT02047H ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200827101821.htm

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