Bulletin of Entomological Research (1953) 44, 693-702

H.B.N. Hynes (1953)
A comparative study of anti-locust baits, with special reference to base materials
Bulletin of Entomological Research 44 (4), 693-702
Abstract: Tests were carried out to determine the acceptability of baits to Schistocerca gregaria hoppers of the third, fourth and fifth instars under natural conditions in the Turkana district of Kenya and in Somalia between 1942 and 1947. The experiments were performed before 10 A.M. and after 4 P.M. when the hoppers were actively feeding and marching. Across each stream of hoppers, where their density was fairly even, a line of plots of different baits was laid each plot being 1 sq.ft. in area and 1 ft. from the next. After 10 minutes the number of hoppers on each plot was counted by observation through binoculars from a distance of 20-30 yards. Results showed that the various base materials could be divided into 5 classes of decreasing acceptability: (1) better than wheat bran - maize meal and rice polishings; (2) wheat bran; (3) worse than wheat bran and better than bagasse - maize bran, cottonseed husk, buni husk and rice bran; (4) equal to bagasse and better than coffee husk - sugarcane trash, millet stalk and maize stalk; (5) not significantly different from coffee husk - groundnut husk, corn cob, sawdust, rice husk, dom nut residue and old buni husk. It appeared that heavy lignification detracted from acceptability and that starch increased it. Molasses increased the acceptability only of the least acceptable materials unless very large amounts were used. Acceptability is not correlated with water-absorbing properties; the rate of drying of the bait depends on the amount of water initially absorbed, and molasses influence the rate of drying only when large amounts are used.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied from Acridological Abstracts with permission by NRI, Univ. of Greenwich at Medway.)
Link to article at publishers website

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
control - general

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Schistocerca gregaria		Kenya
	Schistocerca gregaria		Somalia