Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
  • A01N—PRESERVATION OF BODIES OF HUMANS OR ANIMALS OR PLANTS OR PARTS THEREOF; BIOCIDES, e.g. AS DISINFECTANTS, AS PESTICIDES OR AS HERBICIDES; PEST REPELLANTS OR ATTRACTANTS; PLANT GROWTH REGULATORS
  • A01N37/00—Biocides, pest repellants or attractants, or plant growth regulators containing organic compounds containing a carbon atom having three bonds to hetero atoms with at the most two bonds to halogen, e.g. carboxylic acids
  • A01N37/02—Saturated carboxylic acids or thio analogues thereof; Derivatives thereof

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a method of monitoring/controlling Thysanoptera (thrips), particularly but not exclusively for monitoring/controlling Western Flower Thrips ( Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande)).
• Thysanoptera Thysanoptera
• insects Spoilage of cultivated plants/crops by insect pests is a widespread problem. Insects are recognised to cause direct damage by eating the plants/crops and also by laying eggs therein. Additionally insects often carry transferable diseases that cause damage of plants/crops.
• insects One method of controlling insects is the direct application of pest control agents/pesticides to the plant/crop.
• pest control agents/pesticides are commonly toxic to other animals their use is becoming increasingly less acceptable on environmental grounds.
• undesirable reactions such as poisoning or allergies, for agricultural and horticultural workers.
• Many consumers are reluctant to purchase edible crops that have been treated with pesticides, because of fears of adverse effects on their health from pesticide residues.
• traps in the vicinity of the crop that contain an attractant sex pheromone and a pest control agent is becoming increasingly widespread.
• the traps may be selective in attracting one sex (usually the male) of the insect concerned so as to remove them from the population and hence control population growth.
• the traps may be more general in their operation.
• the general release of an attracting sex pheromone is also sometimes used as a control measure.
• the released sex pheromone “confuses” the sex that is attracted so that it cannot locate a mate. This disruption of the mating process slows down or stops the build up of the pest population.
• Thysanoptera is a group of insects that is recognised as causing damage to a wide range of cultivated crops.
• Some thrips are a pest of a particular crop, e.g. avocado thrips are a pest of avocado crops, whereas some species are a pest of a wide range of crops.
• Thrips cause damage to crops by feeding upon the crops and laying their eggs therein. Their feeding method comprises penetrating parts of the plant and sucking out the liquid contents, thus causing aesthetically unappealing scarring and stunting the growth of the crop.
• the presence of insects alone or small feeding marks can make ornamental crops unsaleable.
• Some thrips spread plant viruses, which can cause considerable damage to many crops.
• Thrips are commonly active within enclosed parts of the crop, such as flower buds and leaf buds.
• the damage caused by thrips in the form of direct damage such as feeding and in the form of indirect damage such as transmission of a virus, has often occurred before the thrips themselves have been observed.
• the management of thrips is a particularly acute problem as the thrips damage is sometimes only observed in the late stages of the flower development when the bud finally opens. Thrips are also a problem because they breed rapidly and large pest populations can build up very quickly if unchecked.
• Thrips are difficult to control with insecticides because they retreat into minute recesses on the plant where insecticides are less likely to reach them and because the main pest species have high levels of insecticide resistance. Additionally pesticides applied to crops are perceived to be a poor solution to the problem of thrips since the pesticides used are normally detrimental to the population of beneficial arthropods that prey upon the thrips and other insect and mite pests on the crop.
• Biological control agents such as predatory mites or fungal pathogens, are sometimes used to control thrips, but they are not always reliable and they are not very effective on some crops.
• thrips a behaviour modifying compound of Formula 1, wherein Formula 1 is:- where R 1 is a C 8 -C 12 group and R 2 is a C 2 -C 8 group.
• the method of the present invention has been found to be particularly effective in mimicking the effects of a natural thrips pheromone and thus the thrips may be effectively attracted for monitoring or control purposes. They may also be confused for control purposes.
• the invention does not rely on any toxic qualities of the compound of formula (1) but rather on modification of thrips' behaviour for its effect.
• the method of the present invention may be used to gauge the population density of thrips in a particular area from analysis of the number and/or sex of the thrips caught. Based on the number of thrips attracted a decision may then be made as to what further action, if any, is required. At an extreme level the level of monitoring may be selected so that as high a portion of the number of thrips are removed from the population as possible.
• R 1 is preferably aromatic, aliphatic or cycloaliphatic.
• R 1 is preferably a cyclic and most preferably a multi-cyclic (e.g. a bi-cyclic) moiety.
• R 1 is C 9 -C 11 and most preferably C 10 .
• R 1 is a monoterpene.
• R 1 is isobornyl, as shown below.
• R 1 may be a lavandulyl group.
• R 2 is preferably straight or branched alkyl or alkylene, most preferably straight alkyl.
• R 2 is C 3 -C 5 and most preferably C 4 (i.e. the R 2 C (O)O group in the compound of formula (1) has a total of 5 carbon atoms).
• Suitable examples of the R 2 C(O)O group in the compound of formula (1) are the valerate, isovalerate, 2-methyl butanoate and pivalate groups.
• the compound of Formula 1 may be isobornyl valerate, i.e.:-
• the compound of formula 1 may be isobornyl isovalerate, isobornyl 2-methyl butanoate or isobornyl pivalate.
• Further possibilities include lavandulyl valerate, lavandulyl isovalerate, lavandulyl 2-methyl butanoate and lavandulyl pivalate.
• the method of the invention i.e. the way in which the compound of Formula 1 is used, may be carried out in several ways.
• these include use as a confusant.
• a compound of Formula 1 is broadcast within an area infested (or potentially infested) by thrips.
• the compound of Formula 1 mimics the effect of a thrips pheromone the thrips become “confused”, namely the application of a compound of Formula 1 overcomes the effect of any natural thrips pheromones present with the result that the thrips cannot find a mating partner.
• a compound of Formula 1 may be provided in a release device located in an area infested (or potentially infested) by thrips.
• the release device may include a means for immobilising and/or killing the thrips so that the thrips cannot leave the release device once attracted thereto.
• the release device may be used as a pest control device by attracting and then removing thrips from an area.
• the compound of Formula 1 is held in/on a support of the release device.
• the support medium is an adhesive material so that the thrips stick thereto.
• a preferred example of a release device comprises a sheet of plastic having a sticky adhesive coating which has been soaked/coated with a formulation including a compound of Formula 1.
• Such release devices are commonly referred to as “Sticky Traps”.
• the plastic is porous to allow penetration of said formulation.
• the solvent for said formulation is hexane or acetone.
• the sticky paper is preferably coloured to act as a secondary attractant.
• Most preferably the sheet of sticky plastic is coloured blue, white or yellow.
• the use of coloured release devices is described in the paper Zeitschrift für Angewandte Entomologie 107, 136-140 (H. F. Br ⁇ dsgaard). In this paper a sheet having a colour close to Pantone®279 (a shade of blue) was found to be the most attractive for thrips.
• each sheet of plastic is rectangular having dimensions of around 7 cm and between 10-15 cm, although sheets of other sizes are not precluded.
• the sheet may be in the form of a strip and extend around/across a portion of the growing area.
• the method of the present invention may be applied to monitor thrips in a variety of different locations it is preferred that the method of the present invention is used in an enclosed structure such as a greenhouse.
• the release device is preferably in the form of a strip extending along a side of the greenhouse.
• each release device When used in an enclosed structure it is preferred that each release device produces/releases an effective amount of the compound of Formula 1.
• the release device is configured to produce/release a compound of Formula 1 in an amount which is at least and more preferably a multiple of the amount of pheromone which would be released by a single thrips.
• the preferred release rate of a release device is in the region of from 150 to 1,500,000 picograms (1.5 ⁇ g) per hour with more preferably 1000 to 750,000 picograms (0.75 ⁇ g) per hour and most preferably 2000 to 300,000 picograms (0.3 ⁇ g) per hour.
• the method of the present invention is used to monitor/control the population of thrips for cultivated flower crops, e.g. chrysanthemums and roses and additionally for other crops such as cucumbers and peppers.
• cultivated flower crops e.g. chrysanthemums and roses
• other crops such as cucumbers and peppers.
• the method of the present invention may be used to monitor/control walking and/or flying species of thrips.
• thrips include Thrips palmi (Karny), Thrips tabaci (Lindeman), Frankliniella fusca (Hinds), Frankliniella schultzei (Trybom), Frankliniella tritici (Fitch) and Western Flower Thrips ( Frankliniella occidentalis ).
• the method of the present invention is used to control the population of Western Flower Thrips ( Frankliniella occidentalis ).
• Thrips were originally obtained from a commercial glasshouse and then maintained on pot chrysanthemums ( Dendranthema ⁇ grandiflora (Ramat.) Kitamura) at 25° C. under a repeated cycle consisting of 18 hours of light and 6 hours of dark.
• the culture on chrysanthemums supplied mixed-age adult females, which were attracted to adult males in olfactometer bioassays, so these were used in the bioassays.
• the Y-tube has two branches at an angle of 90° and a stem, which are all 60 mm long with internal diameters of 5 mm.
• the Y-tube was held horizontal and illuminated from above by four fluorescent tubes (950 lux). It was screened by a 10 cm high matt-black card wall, forming a 280 mm ⁇ 280 mm square, to minimise any external visual influences.
• a 50 ml round glass flask with a Drechsel head was inserted in the tube before each branch and a semi-circle of filter paper (Whatman No. 1, diameter 42.5 mm), moistened with water, was placed in each to humidify the air. Connections between tubes are either made with brass swagelock connectors or by inserting narrower tubes into slightly wider tubes.
• Zero-grade clean air from a cylinder (supplied by British Oxygen Corporation, Manchester) was passed through an activated charcoal filter and then along Teflon tubes to two flow meters (Supelco, Sigma-Aldrich, Poole) that regulated the air flow to the two branches of a glass Y-tube.
• the rate in the two branches was 50 mm s ⁇ 1 (59 ml min ⁇ 1 ) and in the stem was 100 mm s ⁇ 1 (118 ml min ⁇ 1 ) and were checked with a bubble flow meter.
• Example 1 was repeated using each of isobornyl 2-methyl butanoate, isobornyl pivalate and lavandulyl valerate in amounts of 0.1 ng.
• the method was modified slightly so that the filter paper was placed in a length of Teflon tube instead of in a glass flask.
• the results obtained were as follows: Compound Preference (%) P Isobornyl 2-methyl 72.9% 0.018 butanoate isobornyl pivalate 61.3% 0.010 lavandulyl valerate 79.2% ⁇ 0.001 It can be seen from the above data that each of the above three compounds is a strong attractant for the thrips.

Landscapes

• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Agronomy & Crop Science (AREA)
• Pest Control & Pesticides (AREA)
• Plant Pathology (AREA)
• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Dentistry (AREA)
• General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Wood Science & Technology (AREA)
• Zoology (AREA)
• Environmental Sciences (AREA)
• Agricultural Chemicals And Associated Chemicals (AREA)
• Catching Or Destruction (AREA)
• Control Of Positive-Displacement Air Blowers (AREA)
• Organic Low-Molecular-Weight Compounds And Preparation Thereof (AREA)
• Crystals, And After-Treatments Of Crystals (AREA)

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• 2001
  • 2001-12-21 GB GBGB0130577.0A patent/GB0130577D0/en not_active Ceased
• 2002
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• 2005
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