This item is one of the news releases and story leads that ARS Information
distributes on weekdays to fax and e-mail subscribers. You can also get the
latest ARS news on the World Wide Web at
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm.
* Feedback and questions to ARS News Service via e-mail: isnv@ars-grin.gov.
* ARS Information Staff, 5601 Sunnyside Ave., Room 1-2251, Beltsville MD
20705-5128, (301) 504- 1617, fax 504-1648.
----------
From: "ARS News Service"
To: "ARS News List"
Subject: Biodegradable Decoy Reduces Insecticide Use
Date: Wed, Jan 12, 2000, 6:53 AM
STORY LEAD:
Biodegradable Decoy Reduces Insecticide Use
-----------
ARS News Service
Agricultural Research Service, USDA
Ben Hardin, (309) 681-6597, bhardin@asrr.arsusda.gov
January 12, 2000
-----------
A biodegradable decoy that "fatally attracts" apple maggot flies or other
insect pests has been patented by Agricultural Research Service scientists
and cooperators. Hung in trees at the edge of orchards, the spherical
decoy--coated with sugar, high fructose corn syrup, latex enamel paint and
an insecticide--may provide an alternative to repeated chemical insecticide
sprays.
If not controlled, 1/4-inch-long, black-and-white-striped adult apple maggot
flies can inflict millions of dollars in damage to orchards. They lay eggs
just below the apples' skins. Maggots hatch and feed, creating tunnels
through the apples, which begin to decay and then drop to the ground.
ARS scientists at the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research
at Peoria, Ill., researched the decoy with colleagues at the University of
Massachusetts at Amherst; Michigan State University at East Lansing; and the
Biotechnology Research and Development Corp. at Peoria. The decoy is
designed to suit insects' preferences for color, shape, size and surface
texture. Apple maggot flies fall for an apple-size sphere painted black
which, like a red apple, doesn't reflect ultraviolet light.
ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research
agency.
Preliminary field tests showed the decoy maintained 70 percent of its
insect-killing power after three weeks in Massachusetts orchards. And in
other tests, a similar decoy protected apples as well as three applications
of the commonly used insecticide azinphosmethyl.
Commercial manufacture and sales of the decoys containing registered
pesticides for use in the United States would require approval by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency.
Fruit Spheres Inc., Macomb, Ill., has agreed to produce decoys for
large-scale tests on the apple maggot fly and related insects such as the
blueberry maggot fly, the cherry fruit fly and the walnut husk fly.
An article about the research appears in the January issue of ARS'
Agricultural Research magazine, which can be found on the web at:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/jan00/decoy0100.htm
----------
Scientific contact: Michael R. McGuire, ARS, National Center for
Agricultural Utilization Research, Peoria, Ill., phone (309) 681-6595, fax
(309) 681-6693, mcguirmr@mail.ncaur.usda.gov.
----------
This item is one of the news releases and story leads that ARS Information
distributes on weekdays to fax and e-mail subscribers. You can also get the
latest ARS news on the World Wide Web at
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm.
* Feedback and questions to ARS News Service via e-mail: isnv@ars-grin.gov.
* ARS Information Staff, 5601 Sunnyside Ave., Room 1-2251, Beltsville MD
20705-5128, (301) 504- 1617, fax 504-1648.
Hi Lon,
I came upon this info and it seems right up your alley. Came from the
"Scout Report", and as hard data seems to be your forte........
4. Beilstein Abstracts -- ChemWeb
http://chemweb.com/databases/beilstein
Recently added to ChemWeb, Beilstein Abstracts is a free database of
titles and abstracts of approximately 600,000 articles from 140
journals in organic and related chemistry. The articles run from 1980 to
the present. After free registration with ChemWeb, users may browse or
search the database by author, title, abstract, and several modifiers.
Search returns include title, author, source, document type, language, and
an abstract. [MD]
gardening in East Uniacke Nova Scotia, Canada Zone 5
