Remote-Controlled Monitoring of Flying Pests with an Electrostatic Insect Capturing Apparatus Carried by an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

The purpose of the study was to construct an electrostatic insect-capturing apparatus that could be applied to a drone (quadcopter). For this purpose, a double-charged dipolar electric field screen (DD-screen) was constructed using oppositely charged insulator tubes that was then attached to a drone. For charging, the inner surface of the tubes was coated with a conductive paste and then linked to a negative or positive voltage generator. The opposite charges of the tubes formed an electric field between them and created an attractive force to capture insects that entered the field. The DD-screen constructed here was sufficiently light to enable its attachment to a drone. The screen was hung from the drone perpendicular to the direction of drone movement, so as to receive the longitudinal airflow produced by the movement of the drone. It was positioned 1.8 m below the drone body to avoid the influence of the downward slipstream generated by the rotating propellers. Eventually, the drone was able to conduct a stable flight, with sufficient endurance, and captured airborne insects carried by an airflow of 8 m/s during the flight. This study, therefore, provides an experimental basis for establishing a new method for conducting trap-based monitoring of airborne insects during remote-controlled flight through operation of a DD-screen attached to a drone

Electrostatic Insect Sweeper for Eliminating Whiteflies Colonizing Host Plants: A Complementary Pest Control Device in An Electric Field Screen-Guarded Greenhouse

Our greenhouse tomatoes have suffered from attacks by viruliferous whiteflies Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) over the last 10 years. The fundamental countermeasure was the application of an electric field screen to the greenhouse windows to prevent their entry. However, while the protection was effective, it was incomplete, because of the lack of a guard at the greenhouse entrance area; in fact, the pests entered from the entrance door when workers entered and exited. To address this, we developed a portable electrostatic insect sweeper as a supplementary technique to the screen. In this sweeper, eight insulated conductor wires (ICWs) were arranged at constant intervals along a polyvinylchloride (PVC) pipe and covered with a cylindrical stainless net. The ICWs and metal net were linked to a DC voltage generator (operated by 3-V alkaline batteries) inside the grip and oppositely electrified to generate an electric field between them. Whiteflies on the plants were attracted to the sweeper that was gently slid along the leaves. This apparatus was easy to operate on-site in a greenhouse and enabled capture of the whiteflies detected during the routine care of the tomato plants. Using this apparatus, we caught all whiteflies that invaded the non-guarded entrance door and minimized the appearance and spread of the viral disease in tomato plants in the greenhouse