A New And Revolutionary Pest Control Device Is Now In Testing Stages

Insect pests are a major problem for farmers all over the world. The particular insect pests that cause the greatest damage to crops change from year to year. One year some farmers may fear crop damage from mites, while the next year may see more aphids than mites. Not knowing which insect pest will be most problematic to a crop within a given season obviously makes eradicating them a difficult task. Typically, farmers will apply the same insecticides to their crops every year, but one single insecticide may be more effective at killing one type of pest over another. Also, failing to switch up pesticides can result in insect pests developing genetic resistance to a particular insecticide. The job of eradicating insect pests from crops would certainly be much easier if agricultural workers knew which types of insect pests they would be dealing with before the season starts. In addition to killing insect pests, farmers want to preserve beneficial insects that kill harmful ones. Unfortunately, insecticides also kill beneficial pests if the right ones are not used. As it turns out, several academics from multiple universities have developed an insect-monitoring device that can give farmers an idea of which insect pests will become the greatest threat to their crops.

Researchers have developed a new insect monitoring device that they are calling FlightSensor. This device analyzes the different insects that are flying around in the sky above a crop. This device can count the number of individual insects present over an area above a crop, as well as how many different species of insects exist over a crop. Not only that, but the device can even identify each particular species of insect that comes near a crop in any given period of time. For example, before the growing season, during the winter and into early spring, the device can be used to track insect populations near a crop. This preventative monitoring can allow farmers enough time to identify the particular pests that will cause the most harm to their crops, thus enabling them to choose the proper insecticides for the job.

Do you think that this insect monitoring device will be in regular use within the next decade?