Tea tree oil can keep mosquitoes, lice, and other insects away.
Is it possible to restore the spotted lantern fly?
Annie Garen pursued the big question. Her research on the use of essential oils as deterrents won third place in the Plant Science category of the Senior category at the North Museum Science and Engineering Fair.
Spotted lantern flies are so common at Efrata High School that field hockey scavenger hunts have asked the team to find and shred lantern flies, says Annie, now a senior field hockey player.
“I thought it would be interesting to do some research on it to see if it had a natural deterrent,” she says.
17-year-old Annie examined tea tree oil, which has an insect repellent effect, and lavender oil, which has an antibacterial effect. She also chose these two oils because they are easy for people to find.
Before starting her research, she thought tea tree oil would keep lantern fries out for use as an insect repellent.
For her research, Annie looked for a spotted lantern fly host tree in her mud village house. (She lives with her parents Donya and her headmaster Scott, and her sister Hannah is in college.)
Annie found six maples and taped them in place. Every two days she sprayed two trees with lavender oil, two trees with tea tree oil and two trees with water as a control tree. Every week she peeled off the tape and counted the lantern flies.
After adjusting the girth of the tree, she got her results as to whether the oil would keep the lantern brood away.
“In the end, it wasn’t very daunting, so I’m a little sad,” she says.
Lavender oil attracted more lantern fries than oil-free wood.
“It didn’t prove my hypothesis at all, but I thought you could use lavender oil as an attractant on the outskirts of your property to try to keep it off your trees. So it’s really revealing, ”says Annie.
Alternatively, she added, luring the lantern fly into a trap might help.
This study brought Annie’s attention to spotted lantern flies.
“These can be really big problems and we have to do something to stop them,” she says.
Success! An email has been sent with a link to confirm your registration in the list.
Error! There was an error processing the request.
Science fair winners found out if essential oils keep spotted lantern flies away. | House & garden
Source link winners of this science fair have found out whether essential oils keep spotted lantern flies away. | House & garden
