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Like a Moth to a ... Piece of Plastic

Posted by michael on from the enlarge-your-sensory-organs-now dept.

An anonymous writer sends: "Cook and DuPage counties in Illinois are attempting to deal with their gypsy moth problem by bombarding the moth population with female moth pheromone coated plastic flakes. This will overwhelm the males sensory organs, and inhibit their future reproduction. It will only require about 15 grams of flakes to cover each acre."

1 of 20 comments (clear)

  1. More info by texchanchan · · Score: 3, Informative

    http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/dec97/moth12 97.htm Popular-style article
    http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/biopesticides/factsh eets/fs-generic_lep.htm very technical, EPA-oriented
    http://www.wcrl.ars.usda.gov/cec/papers/jce93-9.ht m Article about an insect population simulation program.
    http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2174.html Using bt instead
    http://fwie.fw.vt.edu/rhgiles/Trevey/Gypsy.htm Vermont, long piece, "gyplure"
    http://www.orst.edu/instruction/bi301/chemcont.htm Dr. Pat Muir's notes for a college class, short, readable. Excerpt:
    "The advantages of pheromone use include the facts that they:

    * are nontoxic
    * are biodegradable
    * can be used at low concentrations
    * are highly species specific

    Hazards or difficulties associated with their use include the facts that:

    * resistance to pheromones could potentially evolve (although it would then be difficult for insects to find mates!)
    * it is expensive and takes a long time to achieve commercial production."
    More than you wanted to know about gypsy moths

    In reading up about this I found that some of the same people who don't like pesticides also don't like Bt and pheromones. You wonder how they're going to like a deforested Pacific Northwest if those moths get loose up there.

    P.S. URL for the meetup