Development of Alternative-Toxicant Formulations of Invite
| Problem: | The development of semiochemical baits for corn rootworm has relied on the use of various “hard” toxicants, which have been insecticides labeled for corn. Several new formulations of Invite have been developed that use safer and more environmentally sensitive toxicants. |
| Objective: | To evaluate the efficacy, residual activity, and rainfastness of several formulations of Invite. |
| Approach: | Invite formulations will be sprayed onto corn plants. A subset of the plant will used to evaluate the rainfastness of the formulations using the Unit’s rainfall simulator. Half of these plants will receive one inch of simulated rainfall and the other half will not. The second subset of treated plants will be placed outside for 1-14 days for residual activity or efficacy monitoring. Efficacy will be determined by excising the leaves from the plant, placing petri dishes over the leaf sections, introducing Western CRW into the petri dishes, and recording mortality of the beetles at 1, 4, 8, 24, and 48 hours. |
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Significant Impact: |
The development of these new Invite formulations will further reduce the amount of toxicant that is released into the environment for controlling corn rootworms. This research will also continue to support one of the key technologies that was developed as a result of the National Corn Rootworm Control Initiative. |
W. Clint Hoffmann