Sustainable laser-based technology for insect pest control

Abstract

Aphids damage directly or indirectly cultures by feeding and spreading diseases, leading to huge economical losses. So far, only the use of pesticides can mitigate their impact, causing severe health and environmental issues. Hence, innovative eco-friendly and low-cost solutions must be promoted apart from chemical control. Here, we have investigated the use of laser radiation as a reliable solution. We have analyzed the lethal dose required to kill 90% of a population for two major pest aphid species (Acyrthosiphon pisum and Rhopalosiphum padi). We showed that irradiating insects at an early stage (one-day old nymph) is crucial to lower the lethal dose without affecting plant growth and health. The laser is mostly lethal, but it can also cause insect stunting and a reduction of survivors’ fecundity. Nevertheless, we did not notice any significant visible effect on the offspring of the surviving irradiated generation. The estimated energy cost and the harmless effect of laser radiation on host plants show that this physics-based strategy can be a promising alternative to chemical pesticides.

Pesticide-Free Robotic Control of Aphids as Crop Pests

“…On Day + 7, height, fresh mass, and leaf surface were measured. The statistical analyses detailed in the previous study [51] did not show any significant difference between control and irradiated plants.…”

“…To select the most effective laser, the correlation between laser energy and aphid mortality was evaluated and published in a previous work [51]. For that purpose, aphids treated with different laser energies were put back on the leaves and observed every day for mortality counts.…”

“…Then, we measured their mass and developmental delay at Day + 7. Finally, we monitored the fecundity for 15 days of F0 aphids and F1 aphids born on the 1st, 5th, 10th, and 15th days of the reproduction period of F0 aphids [51]. All the treatments were repeated five times.…”

“…Indeed, in case of false-positive detection, the entire laser energy would strike them. Hence, the impact of the energy delivered in our experiments has also been investigated on host plants in our previous work [51].…”

Acaricidal efficacy of ultraviolet-C irradiation of Tetranychus urticae adults and eggs using a pulsed krypton fluoride excimer laser

“…New control and decontamination strategies based on physical technologies are promising means of improving microbial safety. The aims of these strategies include improvement of the control of foodborne pathogens [ 1 , 2 ], the inactivation of food and environmental biowarfare agents [ 3 – 5 ], and arthropod pest control [ 6 ]. One of the main advantages of microbicidal non-chemical inactivation procedures is that they are considered eco-friendly as they do not leave potentially toxic residues in the environment.…”