Super-slurper cocktail helps rout weevils.Super-slurper cocktail helps rout weevils An estimated 80,000 acres of Florida citrus groves are currently infested in·fest tr.v. in·fest·ed, in·fest·ing, in·fests 1. To inhabit or overrun in numbers or quantities large enough to be harmful, threatening, or obnoxious: with weevils. Among the more devastating is Diaprepes abbreviatus, also known as the sugar-cane root-stalk weevil weevil, common name for certain beetles of the snout beetle family (Curculionidae), small, usually dull-colored, hard-bodied insects. The mouthparts of snout beetles are modified into down-curved snouts, or beaks, adapted for boring into plants; the jaws are at the . The mature insect attacks orange and grapefruit foliage; its soil-foraging larvae Larvae, in Roman religion Larvae: see lemures. have a predilection for the roots of citrus trees. Within two years, an infested grove can suffer such extensive damage that costs of treating affected trees can equal or surpass the value of their fruit, according to William J. Schroeder William J. Schroeder was one of the first recipients of an artificial heart. On November 25, 1984, Schroeder became the second human recipient of the Jarvik 7. After 18 days, he suffered the first of a series of strokes, eventually leaving him in a vegetative state. , an entomologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA USDA, n.pr See United States Department of Agriculture. ) Horticultural Research Laboratory in Orlando, Fla. Without treatment, weevils will kill 20 to 30 percent of a grove and render the remaining trees unable to bear fruit. What's a citrus grower to do? Mix his trees a watery cocktail laced with nematodes (soil roundworms that harbor bacteria lethal to weevil larvae) and microscopic flakes of the USDA-patented polymer known as "super slurper." In preliminary experiments, Schroeder has demonstrated that this very low-cost insecticide can rout 60 percent of infesting weevils. Once a nematode nematode or roundworm Any of more than 15,000 named and many more unnamed species of worms in the class Nematoda (phylum Aschelminthes). Nematodes include plant and animal parasites and free-living forms found in soil, freshwater, saltwater, and even vinegar enters a larva larva, in zoology larva, independent, immature animal that undergoes a profound change, or metamorphosis, to assume the typical adult form. Larvae occur in almost all of the animal phyla; because most are tiny or microscopic, they are rarely seen. , its bacteria get right to work, killing the weevil within 24 hours. But Schroeder found that the dry, quick-draining sandy soils typical of most Florida groves can't sustain the moisture-loving host worms throughout dry spells. So Schroeder enhances the soil's water-holding ability with the biodegradable cornstarch-based super slurper; it can absorb up to 2,000 times its weight in water. One liter of Schroder's weevil-killing cocktail contains water, 5 grams of the starch and about 5 million nematodes. It can be applied to the roots of a tree at planting, or sprayed directly onto the soil under a tree. Schroeder has applied for a patent on this super-slurper application and expects to pilot test it in groves this year. If all goes well, he says, the technology could be commercially introduced within two years. Other USDA labs are looking to adapt this cocktail to control corn and vegetable pests. |
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