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Electrostatic Deposition of Charged Insecticide Sprays on Electrically Isolated Insects

Electrostatic Deposition of Charged Insecticide Sprays on Electrically Isolated Insects
Electrostatic Deposition of Charged Insecticide Sprays on Electrically Isolated Insects
Electrostatic charging has been used to improve targeting and efficacy of agricultural sprays for decades. However, the benefits of electrostatic deposition have not been exploited for the control of flying insects in the domestic environment. The work described here demonstrated that electrostatically charged sprays significantly increase deposition onto electrically isolated insects (R > 100 GOmega), and that this translated into improvements in bioefficacy in direct spray bioassay experiments. The time taken to knockdown 50% (KD50) of the houseflies was reduced from 2.63 to 1.98 min by increasing the charge-to-mass ratio of the insecticide spray from 2.66 x 10(-5) to 2.16 x 10(-1) C/kg, the difference being statistically significant (p = 0.043). This increase in bioefficacy remained during space spray bioassays when living room furniture was present in the test chamber. Here the rate of KD50 was increased from 7.30 to 5.60 min by increasing the charge-to-mass ratio of the insecticide spray from 2.66 x 10(-5) to 2.16 x 10(-4) C/kg, with the difference being statistically significant (p = 0.044). Electrodeposition occurred despite electrical isolation of the target insects and consequent absence of a conductive path to earth. Improvements in the bioefficacy of charged insecticides over uncharged equivalents arise through the attraction of charged droplets onto insects in flight and through space charge effects causing improved dispersion of the aerosol in the chamber. Any increase in deposition of the charged aerosol onto walls, ceilings and items of furniture does not counteract the improved bioefficacy.
housefly, charged aerosol, electrodeposition
0304-3886
35-47
Gaunt, Lindsey
6030c0e6-2303-47e0-acea-1a0fef024d8b
Hughes, John
d6a276c8-a7e5-46d9-9b3a-e7be07d4ddfc
Gaunt, Lindsey
6030c0e6-2303-47e0-acea-1a0fef024d8b
Hughes, John
d6a276c8-a7e5-46d9-9b3a-e7be07d4ddfc

Gaunt, Lindsey and Hughes, John (2003) Electrostatic Deposition of Charged Insecticide Sprays on Electrically Isolated Insects. Journal of Electrostatics, 57 (1), 35-47. (doi:10.1016/S0304-3886(02)00094-3).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Electrostatic charging has been used to improve targeting and efficacy of agricultural sprays for decades. However, the benefits of electrostatic deposition have not been exploited for the control of flying insects in the domestic environment. The work described here demonstrated that electrostatically charged sprays significantly increase deposition onto electrically isolated insects (R > 100 GOmega), and that this translated into improvements in bioefficacy in direct spray bioassay experiments. The time taken to knockdown 50% (KD50) of the houseflies was reduced from 2.63 to 1.98 min by increasing the charge-to-mass ratio of the insecticide spray from 2.66 x 10(-5) to 2.16 x 10(-1) C/kg, the difference being statistically significant (p = 0.043). This increase in bioefficacy remained during space spray bioassays when living room furniture was present in the test chamber. Here the rate of KD50 was increased from 7.30 to 5.60 min by increasing the charge-to-mass ratio of the insecticide spray from 2.66 x 10(-5) to 2.16 x 10(-4) C/kg, with the difference being statistically significant (p = 0.044). Electrodeposition occurred despite electrical isolation of the target insects and consequent absence of a conductive path to earth. Improvements in the bioefficacy of charged insecticides over uncharged equivalents arise through the attraction of charged droplets onto insects in flight and through space charge effects causing improved dispersion of the aerosol in the chamber. Any increase in deposition of the charged aerosol onto walls, ceilings and items of furniture does not counteract the improved bioefficacy.

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More information

Published date: January 2003
Keywords: housefly, charged aerosol, electrodeposition
Organisations: Electronics & Computer Science

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 256844
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/256844
ISSN: 0304-3886
PURE UUID: 026832c4-1e91-4ec2-b7f5-aad787d629d8

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Date deposited: 09 Nov 2002
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 05:47

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Contributors

Author: Lindsey Gaunt
Author: John Hughes

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