What are you looking for this Valentine’s Day? Good looks with bright colors? Or a sweet irresistible scent? If you answered YES to either you may be more like an INSECT than you think! USDA and University of Florida researchers are studying the effect of scent and color on insect traps. They found that the ideal trap has a yellow color with a fruity methyl salicylate scent. The Asian Citrus Psyllid causes Greening Disease and can devastate crop yields. It is projected that in 2022 Florida will have the smallest citrus crop in over 77 years! Yellow sticky traps use both visual cues and fragrance to fatally attract insects. You may be more like an INSECT than you think! Enjoy your citrus and Happy Valentine’s Day!
If you have indoor houseplants, you may have realized that many plants attract bugs and insects. Be it fungus gnats, spider mites, or mealybugs many plant lovers have had to deal with pests. In your own home, this can feel like a monumental task, but depending on the collection you can usually rid yourself of pests quite easily. What happens when pests attack our food sources?
Researchers at the USDA and the University of Florida have asked this question about the Asian Citrus Psyllid (Diaphorina citri Kuwayama). This small insect was first found in Florida in 1998, and it is known to damage citrus plants by feeding on the sap. This can cause a decline in citrus production and introduce citrus greening disease to orchards. Many insects are attracted to plants for their smell and color. For example, bees (who can see in the UV) are attracted to the bright colors of flowers which draw them in with sweet scents. Can we use this attraction to discourage harmful pests?
The team of researchers used two key components to attract the insects to a trap. They used both odor and visual cues to fatally attract the insects. To test – they tried different combinations of odor and color to see what the best combination would be.
Using a BLACK-Comet spectrometer with a reflectance set-up, these researchers confirmed the color of the traps by measuring the reflectance of the traps and the visual targets.
From their experiments, they found that the ideal trap consists of a yellow sticky trap with the addition of methyl salicylate. Methyl salicylate is a colorless liquid with a sweet and fruity odor. Some plants produce this chemical in small quantities. Yellow sticky traps are also popular in the houseplant community. Many pests are attracted to the bright yellow trap. Instead of attacking the roots or foliage of your plants, they are drawn instead to the trap, leading to a fatal attraction.
So you may be more like an INSECT than you think! Enjoy your citrus and Happy Valentine’s Day!
Thoughtful Gift Ideas for your Spectrometer
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