EA038947B1 - Pheromone trap-feeder for trapping insects and feeding them to fish - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a pheromone trap for insects (Fig. 1; 1.1; 2; 3; 4), which can be located on the surface of a water body for trapping harmful insects and for fish feeding.

Description

The invention relates to the use of sexual or aggregative pheromones and food attractants of harmful insects for the non-chemical destruction of insects (butterflies, flies, mosquitoes, gadflies, horseflies, beetles, locusts, bedbugs, etc.) and feeding them to artificially bred fish.

Sex pheromones are organic compounds that are formed in the gonads of insects, the smell of which attracts mating partners only for the target (harmful) species. Food attractants are substances that mimic the smell of food and also attract insects.

How it works: the dispenser releases pheromones or attractants into the air. Insects fly to the source of the smell, enter the space between the roof and the water surface, and in the process of searching for a sexual partner or a source of food fall into the water. Insects cannot take off from the water, they attract fish with their movements and are eaten by it.

The trap is a moored raft with a roof, under which there is a dispenser with a pheromone or attractant in the air.

The trap is intended for catching harmful insects above water bodies in order to feed them with valuable high-protein feed to farmed fish. An environmentally friendly method for the destruction of harmful insects (only highly specific pheromones and attractants of harmful insect species are used) has a positive effect on the productivity of the surrounding fields, gardens, pastures and other agrobiocenoses. The number of insects in the fields, in the vicinity of farms and in settlements can be very high and the conversion of this biomass into free valuable food for fish is very useful both for growing crops, improving the sanitary condition near farms, and for fish farming.

Main structural elements

1. An anchor made from a suitable heavy object - brick, cement block, sawn limestone block, etc. Serves to fix the trap in the desired part of the reservoir.

2. The cord for fastening the raft to the anchor is made of nylon, nylon or polyethylene.

3. A float made of foam, hollow plastic or a suitable type of wood, in the form of a ring (Fig. 1, 2), a square (Fig. 1.1) or several unconnected floats (Fig. 3). The floats are sized to provide sufficient buoyancy.

4. Roof with fixings (pillars). Fastened in several places to the float or floats using rigid metal wire, plastic or wood, made of plastic or sheet metal protected from corrosion. On the underside of the roof there is a mount for fixing a dispenser with a pheromone or attractant. The shape of the roof is round or square.

5. A dispenser with a pheromone or attractant is mounted under the roof and does not touch the water surface; it is a source of uniform emission (evaporation) of pheromones or attractants. The choice of pheromone or attractant depends on the species composition and number of insect pests in a given area, above a water body, in the surrounding agrobiocenoses and other adjacent territories. In the absence of a negative effect on each other of several pheromones or attractants (inhibition), pheromones and attractants can be used for several species of insects, thus increasing the total volume of capture. The type and design of the dispenser must be selected based on the chemical nature and amount of pheromones and attractants, they must ensure long-term emission. As the emission of pheromones or attractants decreases, the dispenser must be replaced with a fresh one.

It was found that in order to ensure the best operation of the trap, the distance between the roof with the dispenser and the water must be regulated depending on the biology of the insect, the pheromone or attractant of which is in the dispenser, - the size of the corresponding insect, the nature of the flight, and behavior. The optimum distance is determined empirically.

Modification - light-pheromone trap

The trap differs in that, in addition to attracting an insect with a pheromone or an attractant, a lamp with a special spectrum is installed under the roof, which, with its light, attracts an additional number of insects that drown in the water, which increases the catch. To operate the lamp, the trap is completed on the roof with a solar panel with photocells to generate electric current, a battery and a control relay with a photocell (to turn on the lamp at night) (see Fig. 4).

Example 1.

A 70x70 cm square trap as described above in FIG. 1.1 and fig. 3, were placed on the surface of the water in a pond with an area of 1 hectare, in which fish (carp, crucian carp, trout) are found. The distance between the bottom surface of the roof and the water level is 9 cm. The distance between the trap and the shore is 2 m, the depth in this place is 1.2 m. 10 meters from the pond begins a park with an area of 5 hectares: spruce, pine, birch, aspen, etc. placed a dispenser with the sex pheromone of the gypsy moth Lymantria dispar and the silkworm of the nun Lymantria monacha - (+) disparlyur at a dose of 0.5 mg, applied to a rubber stopper weighing 630 mg. Next to the trap on the shore (at a distance of 3 m), a video camera with illumination was attached to a peg. Video surveillance was carried out for 24 hours. After that, the video was analyzed. It was found that 53 large butterflies flew into the trap, 22 butterflies flew out. Also install

- 1038947 whether most of the insects flew in between 24.00 and 04.00.

Example 2.

To test the effectiveness of work at night, in a pool almost full of water, measuring 150x150 cm, where there are no fish, a 50x50 cm trap was marked (Fig. 1.1 and Fig. 3), consisting of a square roof, in the center of which a dispenser was fixed from below, charged pheromone of the cotton scoop Helicoverpa armigera - a mixture of cis-11-hexadecenal and cis-9-hexadecenal, with a total weight of 2 mg, applied to a rubber stopper with a weight of 630 mg. The distance between the bottom surface of the roof and the water level is 8 cm. Foam floats are attached to the corners of the square roof from below. The trap is placed on the water surface of the pool in the evening at 18.00. The trap pool was placed 15 m from the cornfield. The next day at 6.00, 15 butterflies of the cotton bollworm Helicoverpa armigera and 1 butterfly of another species were found on the surface of the water.

Example 3.

On the same night as in example 2, next to the same field, at a distance of 150 m from the trap from example 1 and at a distance of 15 m from the field, another similar trap was collected. In a pool, almost full of water, measuring 150x150 cm, where there are no fish, a 50x50 cm trap was marked, consisting of a square roof, in the center of which a dispenser is fixed from below, charged with a pheromone of the cotton scoop Helicoverpa armigera - a mixture of cis-11-hexadecenal and cis-9 -hexadecenal, with a total mass of 2 mg, applied to a rubber stopper with a mass of 630 mg. The distance between the bottom surface of the roof and the water level is 8 cm. A 0.2 W LED light bulb was placed next to the dispenser at the bottom of the roof (Fig. 4). Foam floats are attached to the corners of the square roof from below, and 4 LED lamps with a power of 0.2 watts are attached to the corners of the roof from above. The light of all lamps is white - 6000-6500K. A solar panel 200 mA, 6 V, a 3.7 V, 1200 mAh battery charged during the day and a light sensor (relay) were placed on the roof. The trap is placed on the water surface of the pool in the evening at 18.00. The trap pool was placed 15 m from the cornfield. The next day, at 6.00, 23 butterflies of the cotton bollworm Helicoverpa armigera and 8 butterflies of other species were found on the surface of the water.

Control.

For control, another pool with water of 150x150 cm in size was used, located at a distance of 150 m from the pool from example No. 2 and 300 m from the pool from example No. 3. Also located 15m from the cornfield. The control pool was placed on the same evening. From 6:00 pm to 6:00 am the next day, 2 cotton scoop butterflies and 2 other species were found on the water.

This confirms that low light combined with a pheromone dispenser increases insect capture at night. It is also known that light attracts fish in the dark, so it is assumed that the night operation of the pheromone trap should be more efficient.

Claims (5)

1. Pheromone trap for insects, made with the possibility of installation on a reservoir and feeding fish, containing a square or round roof, on the lower side of which a dispenser with a pheromone is fixed in the center; floats located on the underside along the edges of the roof, which has the ability to adjust the distance to the water, as well as an anchor and a cord for attaching the trap to the anchor. 2. A trap according to claim 1, characterized in that the roof is made of plastic and the floats are made of foam. 3. A trap according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the dispenser contains an insect pheromone selected from the group consisting of butterflies, flies, mosquitoes, gadflies, horseflies, beetles, locusts or bedbugs. 4. The trap according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it contains a lighting system consisting of a solar battery, a relay and LED bulbs. 5. The use of a trap according to any one of claims 1 to 4 for feeding fish with protein food in a reservoir during the summer of insects.