DK155411B - INSECT CASES - Google Patents

Description

DK 15541 1 B

The present invention relates to an insect trap, in particular an insect trap, which lures the insects to a sticky substance inside the trap.

Insect traps are known which use attractive means (hereinafter referred to as attractants) to lure the insects thereto and trap them by means of a sticky or sticky substance in or on the trap.

It has been found that the efficiency of such traps can be significantly improved by ensuring that the attractor is forced out into the immediate vicinity of the trap in a controlled manner.

The present invention relates to an insect trap comprising a chimney part, a sticky substance arranged inside the chimney part and a reservoir of insect attractant, which insect trap is characterized in that a heating means is arranged at the bottom of the chimney part and the reservoir of insect attractant is placed immediately near and above the heating means, whereby the heating means evaporates the insect attractant and forms a convection stream of air which leads the attractant out of the top of the chimney and into the surrounding atmosphere, and the insects thereby attracted by the attractant through the top of the chimney are trapped by the sticky substance.

FR 374.224 discloses an insect trap which comprises a chimney part, a sticky substance placed inside the chimney part and a reservoir of insect attractant. In this known insect trap, the insects enter the trap at the bottom of the chimney part, and not at the top, while the vapors 25 of insect attractant, however, flow out from the top of the chimney part and not from its bottom. Thus, in the prior art insect trap, the insects are not lured into the chimney portion by a stream of attractant vapor. Furthermore, the known insect trap is not provided with a heating means for forming a convection flow of air and evaporating the insect attractant.

From an environmental point of view, the trap provided by the present invention is particularly advantageous because by using it a significant reduction of the population of flying insects in a room 2 is achieved.

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or a closed area without the need to use a chemical pesticide.

The decisive feature of the insect trap according to the invention is the provision of a stream of insect attractant emanating from the trap, and it has been found that without this feature of forced convection the efficiency, measured in number of captured insects, decreases drastically. The forced air flow through the chimney is achieved as indicated by means of a heating means which can be electrically operated. The reservoir of insect attractant, which is placed near and on top of the heating means, may be in the form of a solid plate or pellet.

The chimney can be square, rectangular or circular in cross section, although other shapes can be used if desired, e.g. bowl, plate, dish or tray shape. Both ends of the chimney are open or partially open so that an air flow can be forced through.

15 Better results can be obtained if the other end of the chimney facing away from the heating means, i.e. the end from which the attractor flows out seems to have a recessed opening, as flying insects, especially houseflies, have difficulty escaping from such a chimney once they have been lured therein. A substantially conically shaped entrance hole is particularly suitable. The inside of the chimney is preferably light colored, as flying insects prefer to fly into a light area and not a dark area, and furthermore, the outside of the house is preferably in a warm or dark color, i.e. a brown, red, black or similar color, as such colors attract flying insects.

There are many attractants that can be used to lure flying insects into the trap, for example: 1) 1- (3,4-methylenedioxylphenyl) -2-phenyl-1,3-propanediol; 2) 3-cyclohexene-1-carboxylic acid 6-methyl-2-methylpentyl ester; 3) 4,7-methanoinden-6-ol-3a, 4,5,6,7,7a-hexahydroformate; 4) m-toluic acid 2-methoxyethyl ester; 5) m-toluic acid 2- (2-butoxyethoxy) ethyl ester; 6) tetrahydro-2- (2-propynyloxy) pyran; 3

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7) "Staley's bait # 2"; 8) "Staley's bait # 7"; and 9) feather hydrolyzate.

The naturally occurring pheromones are also found, and the list below lists the most important of these together with the insect species that are affected.

Chemical name Affected insect 4- (p-hydroxyphenyl) -2-butanone acetate melon fly, Dacus cucurbattae (Coquillett) cis-7,8-epoxy-2-methyloctadecane (gypsy moth), Porthetria dispar (L) (Z) - 7-hexadecen-o-ol acetate pink cotton seed worm,

Pectinophora gossypiella 15 (Saunders) (Z) -7-dodecen-1-ol acetate cabbage caterpillar, Trichoplusia ni (Hiibner) (Z) -7-dodecen-1-ol cabbage caterpillar 4-allyl-1,2-dimethoxybenzene oriental fruit fly, 20 Dacus dorsalis (Lever) (Z) -9-tricosan housefly, Musca domestica (L) phenylethylpropionate + eugenol (7: 3) Japanese beetle, Popillia j aponica (Newman) 25 tert.butyl-4- (or 5) chloro-2-methyl-Mediterranean fruit fly cyclobexan carboxylate Ceratitis capitata (Weidemann)

Other compounds which have been found to be attractive to houseflies can be grouped into the following classes: 1) Decomposition products (mainly amines), 2) nutritional products (aldehydes, ketones and alcohols), 3) simple carbohydrates (mono- and disaccharides), 4) esters.

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Some of the more effective attractants within these four classes are: skatole, indole, ammonium hydroxide, maltose, acetophenone, benzyl alcohol, pyridine, thymol, dioctyl phthalate, glycerol dioleate, orthomonoleate, "Jasmine", "Radoxan", "Herboxan" .

For catching common houseflies, Musca dornestica, "musca-lure" ((Z) -9-tricose) or a mixture of this compound with the (Z) -9-heneicose has been found to be very effective in the trap according to the invention. The reservoir of the attractor can be in a number of different forms, e.g. the attractant may be in liquid form in a container or alternatively in solid form, e.g. dispersed in cellulose or in mineral absorbent substances. A simple, efficient reservoir consists of a porous material such as filter paper or blotting paper, which is impregnated with the desired attractant and reaches paper discs with a diameter of approx. 2.5 cm is used, amounts in the range 0.5-150 mg of attractant have generally been found to give the desired result. Stabilization of the attractant can, if desired, be achieved by incorporating an antioxidant into the reservoir.

The tacky substance which traps the flying insects must obviously be a substance which retains its tackiness for a long time, and examples of such substances are solutions of rubber, rubber and mineral oil, polybutenes and mixtures of waxes and resins.

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the drawing, in which fig. 1 shows in perspective an embodiment of the insect trap according to the invention, fig. 2 is a perspective view of a heating unit together with an attractant reservoir for the one shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the insect trap according to the invention.

The device shown in FIG. 1 and 3 and partly in fig. 2 comprises an electric heating unit 1, a cylindrical cup-shaped enclosure or chimney 2, a reservoir for insect attractant 3 and an inner part or cap 4, on which the sticky substance (not shown) for catching 5

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flying insects entering the bowl-shaped enclosure or chimney 2 are placed.

The heating unit 1 comprises an electrical part (not shown) arranged in a box 5, which is provided with a number of slots 6, and above the electrical part a grate 7 is arranged, on which the reservoir with the insect attractant 3 is arranged in the form of a round disc of absorbent paper impregnated with the insect attractant. From the top of the box 5, two pins 8 and 9 protrude up to holding the chimney 2 in the correct place on the heating unit.

The chimney 2 has, as shown in fig. 1 is a rectangular cross-section, is completely open at the bottom and is provided at the top with a substantially conically shaped retracted entrance 10. A cup-shaped chimney is shown in fig. Inside the chimney 2 there is an inner part 4, on which the sticky substance is placed (not shown); the inner part can be free-standing, i.e. stand on the grate 7, or be clamped or otherwise attached to the chimney 2.

When the flow is switched on and the heating unit 1 is hot, a forced flow of air is produced, which passes through the slits 6, through the grate 7, across the reservoir with insect attractant 3, through the chimney 2 and, according to fig. 1, out through the hole 10 to the surrounding atmosphere. Insect attractant vapor is carried by the air stream to form a stream of attractant flowing out from the top of the chimney 2. Flying insects of the type attracted to the particular attractant used in the reservoir are lured to the trap, fly 25 in through the retracted inlet 10 and is captured by the sticky substance (glue: HYVIS-200) on the inner cap 4. Using a cup-shaped modified chimney as shown in fig. 3, the forced air flow of air is passed over the bowl 4 and out into the surrounding atmosphere. Vapor of insect attractant is passed with the air stream 30 to form a stream of attractant vapor which flows out from the upper end of the bowl. Flying insects of this type are lured to the trap and caught by the sticky substance on the inner part 4.

In the embodiment shown in the drawing, the sticky substance is placed on the inner part or cap, and it has been found to be expedient.

DK 155411B

to manufacture this part or cap from a disposable material so that, when filled with dead flies, it can be discarded and replaced with a fresh part or cap. The part or cap can be of any suitable shape, if desired even in the form of a flat plate. In an alternative embodiment, where an inner hood is not needed, the sticky substance can be placed on the inside of the chimney, and the chimney itself can then be made of a disposable material, so that it can also be discarded and replaced with a fresh chimney when it is filled with flies.

In other alternative embodiments, the chimney or inner cap, if used, may have the insect attractant reservoir incorporated therein, either in the cap or chimney or located over the bottom of the cap or chimney so that it is located near or close to at the heating unit.

The insect trap according to the invention can in practice be sold as an assembly set which can be used together with an existing heating unit which is manufactured for the purpose of killing other insects, e.g. mosquito, by evaporating a reservoir of a mosquito pesticide placed on the heating unit under the influence of the heat given off by the heating means.

The chimney with the sticky substance, together with the reservoir with the attractant, can be easily formed to fit such an existing heating means, and such an assembly set for an insect trap may comprise:

A chimney part suitable for forcing an air flow through it; 25 a reservoir of insect attractant which, under the influence of the air flow, evaporates and is carried as a stream of attractant vapor from the chimney part to the surrounding atmosphere, and a sticky substance located on the inside of the chimney part or on another part which can be placed before in the chimney section.

This assembly set may comprise a chimney part made of thin cardboard or cardboard in the form of a flat blank which can be folded or shaped to form the chimney part.

As indicated above, flying insects prefer to fly into a light area as opposed to a dark area, and therefore 7

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the chimney and the inner hood are made of a transparent material. For aesthetic reasons, however, this is not an attractive construction, and the chimney is preferably made of an opaque material with a warm or dark-colored outside, while the inside 5 (as well as the inner hood, if present) have a light color. Additionally, the lower part of the chimney may be made of a transparent material to illuminate the interior of the chimney. The heating unit can alternatively either be made of a transparent or a light-colored material or have a transparent wall arranged around and above the grate, which cooperates with the chimney and thus in fact forms a transparent lower part of the chimney.

As also stated above, a significant advantage of the present trap is the fact that it avoids the use of a chemical pesticide and acts by the sticky substance capturing and killing the flying insect. In some cases, however, it may be desirable to use a pesticide in addition to the sticky substance within the chimney, and the invention also encompasses a trap containing such a pesticide for the captured flying insects.

The operation of the insect trap according to the invention is further elucidated in the following:

The device shown in FIG. 1 and 2 placed in a room of 28 m ^, which is kept at 23 ° C (± 2 ° C) and 60% (± 5%) relative humidity and ventilated with 3 air changes per. hour. The attractant used is a mixture of (Z) -9-tricose and (Z) -9-heneicose in a weight ratio of 7: 3, which mixture is attractive to houseflies (Musca domestica), and a filter paper disc is coated with 10 mg of this mixture, this slice representing the reservoir of attractant.

The trap is placed on a transparent table top 0.7 meters above the floor, and a number of free-flying 2-3 days old, milk-fed houseflies of 30 both sexes are introduced into the room. The number of free-flying and captured flies is counted, and they are sexed 3 hours after the introduction of flies into space. This procedure is repeated a number of times. The results are shown in the following table.

Claims (2)

20 PATENT REQUIREMENTS An insect trap comprising a chimney part, a sticky substance arranged in the chimney part and a reservoir with an insect attractant, characterized in that a heating means is arranged at the bottom of the chimney part and the reservoir of insect attractant is arranged adjacent to and above the heating means, whereby the heating means evaporates the insect attractant and forms a convection stream of air which leads the attractant out of the top of the chimney and into the surrounding atmosphere, and the insects which are thereby lured by the attractant through the top of the chimney are captured by the sticky substance. Insect trap according to claim 1, characterized in that the top of the chimney part is provided with a recessed opening.