186 - Evaluation of Three Battery Powered Backpack Sprayers for Barrier Applications
Thursday, March 7, 2024
9:20am – 9:30am
Location: D2
Abstract: It can be difficult for mosquito control programs to select which battery powered backpack sprayer on the market may fit the program best based on the product specifications. This study compared the Field King 190515, the Birchmeier AS1200 AC2 and the Ryobi Electrostatic backpack sprayers as a tool to apply mosquito control barrier applications to vegetation. Talstar® P insecticide (AI. Bifenthrin 7.9%) was applied to vegetation at maximum label rate by mixing 30mL formulation to 3.8L water to cover 93 m2. As Ryobi has the electrostatic feature, 30mL formulation was mixed with 1.9L of water to cover 1000 ft2. Twelve vegetation plots, 61 m long, separated by at least 61 m ft, were selected at three sites in St. Johns County, Florida. Three randomly selected plots were assigned to each sprayer and three to control. The effectiveness of the applications was evaluated by leaf bioassays and monitoring mosquito populations using CDC light traps. Leaf bioassays were conducted in the laboratory and leaves were removed from the field at distances of 0, 1.5, 3.0, and 4.5 m into the canopy for each treatment and control area. For leaf bioassay, leaves were attached to bottom of petri dish and 10 female Aedes aegypti were aspirated into the petri dish and mortality was recorded at 24 hours. Mosquitoes were collected weekly, starting 2 weeks pre-treatment and four weeks post-treatment using CDC light traps baited with dry ice and octenol. Two traps per treatment and control area were placed out for 24 hours. All mosquito collections were identified to species. Based on bioassays, Field King, Birchmeier and Ryobi, had control for 2, 3 and 1 weeks after application, respectively. The three sprayers on average reduced mosquito collection by 71.9%, 55.5%, and 31.3 % for the Field King, Birchmeier and Ryobi respectively.
