Pesticide Pressures
Crickets Under Pesticide Pressures
Researchers: Azeem Jimoh, Joseph Yau, Severin Robins and Jason Hall
Research: Basically in our research/experiments we would like to study the effects of a certain type of pesticide on a certain pest (crickets). We will be observing behavior and the overall look of the crickets from a healthy looking standpoint. This will be done over the three day span in lab, with three trials per day of different pesticide concentration. This will also allow us to see any possible resilience in the crickets to the pesticide.
Hypothesis: We will have a control group for the crickets that will be with no pesticides so our null hypothesis will be that nothing happens to the crickets. Our actual hypothesis is that the crickets will show some kind of reaction to the pesticide. Under greater concentrations the effects will be more evident.
Why We Chose: We wanted to do an experiment that was easy to set up, but also very informative and easy to see our results with our eyes. It makes it easier to observe and record data. Another reason we chose this project is because of a BBC article in which it stated that bed bugs have developed a resilience to pesticides and it take 1,000 times more to eradicate the bed bugs than non-target pests.
Challenges: The only real challenges we had as a group was deciding on an actual project. We bounced back and forth between setups and variables before finally deciding on what we wanted to do.
References: http://www.fgv.com.au/grower-services/current-projects/orchard-action/technical-articles/404-how-do-insects-become-resistant-to-pesticide
https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/slowing-and-combating-pest-resistance-pesticides
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-35421742
Hello guys,
ReplyDeleteStudying pesticides and their effects on insects is a really interesting topic! In fact, this is what we wanted to do in the first place with my group. After reading your research introduction, a question came to my mind : how are you guys going to really observe the effects on pesticides ? I know that you want to compare them to a control population but how would you know if something happened inside their body without changing its exterior appearance? For example, let's say that the pesticide kill them really fast at a high concentration, how would you know that the pesticide affected its heart or its brain? I am looking forward to your reply. Overall, your project looks interesting, great job
My group and I are doing a similar experiment; testing the effects common soil pollutants, including a fertilizer with insecticide, have on pill bugs. We chose to use a fertilizer with insecticide due to its popularity with farmers and mass crop production. The fact about bed bugs becoming resistant to pesticides makes me so uncomfortable, I never want to sleep anywhere but my own clean bed again! I'm excited to see your results. How do you guys plan to measure resilience if any of your test subjects show signs of it?
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