MXPA96005324A - Two-stage liquid delivery bait station - Google Patents

Abstract

A liquid delivery bait station having two reservoirs (12, 14) and two fluid transfer systems (32, 38) to allow for sequential delivery of two liquids. The liquids are preferably an insect bait-only fórmulation which is first delivered into an absorbent feeding pad (34) and an insect bait-toxicant fórmulation which is next delivered to the absorbent pad. This sequential delivery allows flying insects such as yellow jackets to be trained to the station by the bait fórmulation before they are exposed to the bait-toxicant fórmulation.

Description

STATION OF BAIT OF LIQUID SUPPLY OF TWO STAGES Technical Field The invention relates to the insect control field and particularly to a liquid poison-bait supply station having two separate vessels with an access / feed portion located between the two vessels. When the station is activated the liquids are supplied sequentially from the two containers. First the lower container, which is filled with a bait only solution and then the upper container, which is filled with a poison-bait solution, is impregnated inside a fibrous feed pad in the access / feed region.

Background of the Invention There are three main types of non-electrical insect control devices or methods: entrapment, contact poison or ingestion poison. Trapping helps control the current population of insects in one location, as does either contact poison or ingestion of the type of "rapid annihilation". The complete destruction of an insect source can only be achieved by the use of a "delayed annihilation" poison - * - in which the insects collectively take it back to their native colonies. The use of the "delayed annihilation" poison-bait formulation for the eradication of wasp colonies is described by and discussed in U.S. Patent No. 5,152,992 to Kandathil et al., "Method for Control of Social Insects with a Hemisalt. of a Perfluoroalkane Sulfonic Acid ". The poison-bait formulation described in this patent is a concentration-dependent poison formulation. The level of poison is maintained sufficiently low so that the foraging wasps are not immediately annihilated by the amount of venom, so that they are liable to carry portions of the formulation back to their native colonies and share it with the wasps within the colony. As the wasps ingest more of the formulation, the level of the poison accumulates to lethal levels. Finally, the entire colony is destroyed. A problem with methods that involve poisons that must be ingested is that the poison must be eaten by target insects. For this reason, the poisons are mixed almost always with a bait that is attractive to the target insect. Although this may sound simple and fundamental, many parameters must be balanced to provide an effective poison-bait formulation and, differences in feeding preferences and sensitivities in different species of target insects. Cockroaches can be described as animals that eat "what they find in their way". They will eat almost anything unless the food source has too high an adulterant level of poison, surfactant or other substance that makes them consider the food unacceptable. Therefore, getting the cockroaches to eat the poison-bait formulation is not a big problem. However, there is a problem when the target insect is a wasp. Wasps are also animals that eat almost anything, although they are more sensitive to the presence of adulterants in the food. An acceptable poison-bait formulation, carefully prepared so that the levels of poisons and surfactants are kept low enough so that the wasps ingest the formulation described in U.S. Patent No. 5,152,992. Such formulation could be supplied by any type of liquid supply station. The devices that allow the liquid to move up in a wick from a container are well known and vary from kerosene lamps to the old AIRWICK air fresheners. An example of the use of the wick impregnation mechanism used in insect control devices is described in US Patent No. 1., 916, 982 for Jones, "Fly Destroyer." A fly poison mixed with sugar is contacted with an absorbent pad which extends into a sealable liquid container. Users fill the container with water, which moistens the pad, and is offered to the flies that perch on the device a solution of poisoned sugar. Devices that allow liquid to be delivered down from a tube extending from a container are also well known in the art and can be seen attached to rodent cages at any pet store. A device that allows the supply of food controlled by the gravity of a toxic liquid is described in U.S. Patent No. 2,860,445 to Yachts "Rodent Exterminating Device" which describes a delivery apparatus having a container for liquid which feeds by gravity inside of a food tube. When the liquid reaches a predetermined level in a liquid well below the container, a floating ball check valve closes the feed tube and prevents further flow. A trap of the type of entrapment that the user must activate by adding the bait as well as water to wet the wasps with yellow pints attracted, sold as "Deluxe Surefire Yellow jacket Wasp Trap" which is manufactured by "Consep Membranes Inc". A liquid bait station that is intended to be used for the control of crawling insects such as cockroaches having an individual container portion which fits within a base structure is described in US Patent No. 5,033,229 to Demarest et al. A liquid poison-bait formulation is released from the container above and moistened to an absorbent pad. The insects can, through the peripheral openings in the base structure, have access to the pad moistened with poison-bait, feeding on it and finally dying. The aforementioned US Patent No. 5,152,992 describes the use of a generic container with a wicking mechanism from which wasps or other flying insects can be fed to ingest a delayed-action bait-poison solution which has been formulated to be acceptable for wasps. One approach to getting yellow-spotted wasps to ingest a poison that has been found very effective can be called "bait and transfer". If yellow-spotted wasps have been allowed to become accustomed to a liquid food source that does not contain poisons (a bait formulation only), they are more likely to continue feeding from the source after a poison has been added to the formulations . For such a method to be convenient and effective, a specialized supply system needs to be employed.

Brief Description of the Invention The present invention provides a two-stage liquid poison-bait delivery station designed for the control of flying insects, especially wasps. The station has three main components that are linked by a fluid transfer system. An upper container has a neck opening and a hanging tongue; a lower container has a neck opening. An access / feeding station, which contains an absorbent fibrous feeding pad with which the fluid transfer system is connected, is located between the two containers. The station has a pre-activation position, in which the liquid is contained within the upper and lower liquid containers and, an activated position, in which the liquid contained within the upper and lower containers can flow out of the containers. containers, passes inside the fluid transfer system which transfers the liquid from the container onto the feeding pad. The lower container is filled with a non-toxic bait formulation, while the upper container is filled with a bait-poison formulation. Inserted into the liquid in the lower container when the bait station is activated is a fibrous wick which is attached to and forms part of the absorbent feed pad. The liquid from the lower container moves upward by capillary action permeating the feed pad.

When the lower container is substantially emptied, the upper container is vented, causing the toxic formulation to flow downwardly through a fluid transfer tube into the lower container from where it is infiltrated into the absorbent feed pad. A ball check valve within the lower end of the fluid transfer tube prevents the poison in the upper container from migrating into the lower container, since the two liquids in contact with each other will seek a state of equilibrium.

Brief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of the bait station. Figure 2 is an exploded side sectional view of the bait station. Figure 3 is a side sectional view of the bait station in its pre-activation position showing the liquid within the containers. Figure 4 is a side sectional view of the priming station in its activated position showing the liquid within the containers.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In the detailed description of the drawings of the best way to carry out the invention, similar reference numbers are used in the different figures to refer to similar parts. Parts of features that are functionally similar although they differ slightly in structure and / or location, or are sub-assemblies of a part that are indicated by reference numbers followed by lowercase letters. As shown in Figure 1, the two-stage liquid supply bait station 10 has three main sub-assemblies: the upper liquid container 12, the lower liquid container 14 and, located between the two, the access and feed portion. 16. The fluid transfer system, described below, extends into the lower liquid container 14 and the upper liquid container 12 and, when the bait station is in the activated position, allows the liquid of both containers to reach and sequentially impregnating the absorbent feed pad 18. A series of access ports 20 allows insects to reach and feed the absorbent feed pad 18. The absorbent feed pad 18 is preferably made of a cellulose material. As best shown in Figures 3 and 4, the access and supply portion 16 is itself formed by a housing comprising the upper access portion 16a and the lower access portion 16b. The housing of the upper access portion 16a has a central connection area 22 that is located at its center, the upper neck opening structure 21, which is sealed with the upper neck seal 23. Also located within and. an integral portion of the upper neck opening structure 21, is the fluid transfer housing seal 25 (shown in Figure 2 although not indicated in Figures 3 and 4) that forms a liquid tight seal around the housing fluid transfer 30. This prevents the upper container from having an outlet except through the fluid transfer tube 40. The upper housing access portion 16a serves to surround and protect the absorbent feed pad 18 from exposure to rain and sunlight and therefore limits the dilution, evaporation and crystallization of the liquid bait-poison formulation that is supplied by the station. Surrounding the upper container connection area 22 is, integrally formed with the upper access portion 16a, the conical flexible support member which is intended to be inverted or "packaged in oil" within the upper portion of 16a when the Liquid supply bait 10 is placed in the activated position, as described below. The lower access portion 16b has a lower central connection area 26, which has, at its center, the lower neck opening structure 28 which extends almost to the base of the lower liquid container 14. The opening structure The lower neck 28 is sealed with the lower neck seal 27. Within the fluid transfer housing 30, which is positioned between and within the upper neck opening structure 22 and the lower neck opening structure 28, is the fluid transfer system 10, which is composed of two different but connected fluid transfer systems 32 and 38. The fluid transfer system 32 is a wick impregnation system 32 which transfers the liquid upwards by capillary action. Integrally formed with and extending down from the absorbent feed pad 18 is the wick 34, which is located within the fluid transfer channel 36. When the liquid supply station 10 is activated, as described below, the channel fluid transfer 36 and the wick 34 extend into the liquid inside the lower liquid container 14. The fluid transfer system 38 is formed by the fluid transfer tube 40 which is open at its upper end and has positioned within its lower end, the ball-retainer assembly 42. The ball-retainer assembly 42 is formed by the ball seat 44 against which the ball 46 presses upward to settle within a side of the lower end of the tube of fluid transfer 40 and extending upwardly through ball seat 44 is a ventilation slot (not shown).

When the liquid supply station 10 is activated and inverted, the liquid from the upper liquid container 12 and the lower liquid container 14 enters and fills the fluid transfer tube 40. The ball 46 floats within the fluid transfer tube 40 on the liquid within the lower liquid container 14 and presses against the ball seat 44. The liquid within the lower liquid container 14 rises towards the wick 34 and inside the absorbent feed pad 18 as shown by the solid arrows in Figure 4. The liquid is removed from the absorbent feed pad 18 as it is ingested by insects and by evaporation. As the liquid level within the lower liquid container 14 descends, the ball 46 also descends until it no longer seats against the ball seat 44. Simultaneously, the ventilation slot at the lower end of the fluid transfer tube 40 is exposed. at ambient atmospheric pressure. The ventilation slot prevents a vacuum in the upper container holding the ball 46 against the ball seat 44 when the level of the liquid inside the lower liquid container 14 descends and the upper liquid container 12 can have outlet allowing the bait formulation -poison flows down into the lower liquid container 14. As liquid flows from the upper liquid container 12 into the lower liquid container 14, the level of the liquid rises until the ball 46 is reset against the ball seat 44. This prevents more liquid from flowing, until r "" - the cycle repeats when the upper liquid container 12 is empty.The liquid container 14 is vented to the atmosphere through the fluid transfer channel 36 and, a through the lower neck opening structure 28 so that the interior of the lower liquid container 14 is always at atmospheric pressure When the ventilation slot of the fluid transfer tube 40 is exposed by the descent in the liquid level, air can enter the fluid transfer tube 40 and from there enter to the upper liquid container 12. As this occurs, the liquid leaves the upper liquid container 12 and flows through the fluid transfer tube 40, around the ball 46 and into the lower liquid container 14, as shown using the dotted arrows in Figure 4. From there, the liquid follows the path indicated by the solid arrows, up towards the wick 34 and inside the absorbent feed pad 18. In order to prepare for use a two stage liquid poison-bait delivery station 10, the lower liquid container 14 is , by the station manufacturer or assembler of bait supply 10, filled with the liquid bait formulation 48, attractive to the flying target insects. The bait formulation used when the yellow-spotted wasps are the target insect would preferably be a sucrose or fructose formulation in water, although the addition of the protein would also be desirable especially at certain points in the growth and reproduction cycles of the plants. Wasps with yellow spots. The neck opening of the lower container 28 would be sealed with an integrally molded perforable neck seal 27. Similarly the upper liquid container 12 would be filled with the poison-bait formulation 50 and the neck opening structure of the upper container 21. sealed with the top collar seal 23 which would preferably be made of perforable sealing means of sheet or the like. The poison-bait formulations 50 can be a concentration-dependent venom preparation such as that described in U.S. Patent No. 5,152,992. The advantage of such a poison, as described in that patent, is that the level of poison in the poison-bait formulation can be set at a level that is below the lethal level that would produce a "rapid annihilation". The low level of poison produces a delayed action of annihilation of the individual insects that die only when they have ingested enough venom so that the concentration of poison in their bodies increases to a lethal level. The fact that the insects do not die after just one feeding of the poison-bait formulation means that social insects such as wasps carry the poisoned food back to their swarm and share it with others in the swarm (a process called trofalaxis). The fact that the formulation is liquid makes it easier to transport and share it. r Since multiple doses of poison are shared, the level of the poison accumulates. Eventually this method can eradicate a complete swarm. It is not necessary to know the location of the swarm as if direct contact poisoning was used. This is an obvious advantage. After the bait station 10 has been filled with the bait and poison-bait solutions and assembled in its pre-activated configuration (best shown in Figure 3), f - would pass into the user's hands. The user would activate the station bait 10 inverting the bait station 10 and placing the "upper" liquid container 12 on a rigid surface such as a table and pressing down on the "lower" liquid container 14. This manual pressure would cause the support member flexible conical 24 was reversed in a non-reversible way, allowing the upper liquid container 12 to move in an axial direction towards the lower liquid container 14, thereby reducing the distance between both containers. Simultaneously, the fluid transfer housing 30 pierces, with its upper end, the upper neck seal 23 and with its lower end pierces the lower neck seal 27. This places the bait station 10 in its activated configuration (best shown in Figure 4). The user then inverts the priming station 10, unfolds and lifts the hanging tongue 52 and hangs the bait station 10 (by means of the hanging tongue) in a location that is known to be frequented by wasps with yellow spots (the preferred target insect). Obviously, both containers of the supply station of the present invention could be filled with the same formulation, either bait or poison-bait. In such a case, the two vessel system would provide a convenient supply system with duplicate capacity. However, the uniqueness of the two-stage fluid delivery system is best used when, as described above, the lower container is filled with a bait-only formulation and the upper container is filled with a poison-bait formulation. When this system is used, yellow-spotted wasps can be trained to return to the location of a food source (bait). Once they have been trained in this way, they will be fed more easily from a poison-bait formulation in the same location. This feeding behavior has been tested in the field. As reported in U.S. Patent No. 5,152,992, the field test showed that yellow-spotted wasps tend to return to known sources of food. Several wick-impregnation stations containing only aqueous (non-poisonous) bait formulations were placed near areas known to be frequented by yellow-spotted wasps. Wasps with yellow spots that visit a station were caught in a net and marked with a drop of paint. Different colors were used to identify the different seasons. No wasp tagged at a station was later found at a different station, provided that the wasps were in fact trained to return and feed at the station they had first encountered.

Without Previous Training Three stations with toxic bait were placed in each of the two sites known to have nearby swarms of yellow-spotted wasps (Vespula germanica). Three stations with a bait-nontoxic formulation were placed in each of the two sites to serve as controls. The stations were placed as soon as the site was found, so not all sites were measured on the first dates. Table I Swarm activity (number of departures in 5 minutes) of the wasps with yellow spots in sites given the control and poison-bait without previous training.

Poison No treatment Date Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 Site 4 9/3/92 66 - - - - - ... 9/4/92 99 5 95 ... 9/5/92 1 8 5 1 1 5. .. 9/6/92 1 01 53 1 08 80 9/7/92 1 1 2 78 1 60 92 9/8/92 80 43 1 52 53 9/1 0/92 36 20 1 8"The activity pattern was the same for both treatment and control, suggesting that simple placement of bait stations with venom was not effective in supplying the venom back to the swarm under the conditions of this test. all swarms on 9/10/92 was due to weather).

With Previous Training • - Three stations were placed with the formulation only of bait 10 in seven sites known to have close swarms of yellow painted wasps. After training the yellow-spotted wasps to the stations for several days, the bait stations were replaced by new stations containing poisonous bait at three sites and containing the formulation of only 15 bait at four sites.

/ "~ Table 2. Average swarm activity (departures every 5 minutes) of Germanic Vespula given control bait and poisonous bait Date Poison Control Baits with previous training placed 9/18/92 76.3 117.0 9/19/92 46.3 83.7 10 9/20/92 69.3 104.7 9/21/92 76.0 98.5 9/22/92 a.m. 75.6 92.8 Treatments placed 15 9/22/92 p.m. 118.5 39.3 9/23/92 101.0 18.2 9/24/92 92.3 10.7 9/25/92 94.6 17.2 During the training period, the activity of the wasp swarm with yellow spots was greater in all sites. After the placement of the poison, the activity of the swarm descended very rapidly to a low level, indicating that most of the workers in the swarm had been annihilated. The control reactivity remained high. Therefore, the previous training before placing the poisonous bait was very effective. The test described above was, as established, carried out by filling stations with the different 5 formulations. The present invention provides a way to have the change made automatically and without the need for the end user to have physical contact with the formulations, either bait only or poison-bait formulations. Other modifications of the two-stage liquid bait dispensing station of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from an examination of the patent specification and prior drawings. Therefore, other variations of the present invention may be made that fall within the scope of the following claims, even though such variations were not specifically discussed above.

Industrial Applicability The two-stage liquid-supply bait-poison station of the present invention can be used to reduce and even eliminate populations of harmful insects such as yellow-spotted wasps frequent places where garbage has been placed, but are only detrimental at sites where there are beings human and food sources.

Therefore, any outdoor area where people eat, be it an outdoor area of a restaurant, a public area for picnics, the patio of a house, or a zoo or in places where recreational activities take place or sports, where people can walk or sit carrying food are places where it is desirable to control and eliminate wasps with yellow spots.

Claims (14)

1. A two-stage liquid poison-bait supply station for insect control, the supply station being susceptible to transformation from a pre-activated configuration to an activated configuration and comprising: a. a lower liquid container for containing a first liquid; b. an upper liquid container for containing a second liquid; c. an insect access and feeding portion located between the upper and lower liquid containers, the insect access and feeding portion having an absorbent feeding pad located therein and insect access ports that allow insects to reach the absorbent feeding pad; d. a fluid transfer system which does not communicate with the liquid containers when the supply station is in its pre-activated configuration but which, when the station is in its activated configuration, connects the upper liquid container and the lower liquid container with the insect access and feeding portion to allow liquid within the upper and lower liquid containers to reach the insect access and feed portion upon activation of the supply station; and / e. flow control means for controlling the flow within the system of the [first liquid from the lower liquid container and the second liquid from the upper liquid container so that initially the first liquid and subsequently the second liquid are supplied to the pad of absorbent feed, to sequentially expose the first and second liquids for feeding insects from the absorbent feed pad.

2. The supply station of claim 1, wherein a. the upper and lower containers each have a neck opening and a seal that closes each neck opening. b. The fluid transfer system includes a first The fluid transfer system that supplies the first liquid to the absorbent feed pad and a second fluid transfer system that delivers the second liquid to the lower liquid container to be mixed with any remaining portion of the first liquid and 20 is supplied from the lower container to the supply pad by the first fluid transfer system; and c. The delivery system further comprises a transfer structure containing the first and second delivery systems. 25 transfer and is adapted to penetrate the seals that • - close the neck openings of the upper and lower liquid containers when the supply station is placed in its activated configuration to make the first and second fluids accessible to the delivery systems. 5 fluid transfer.

3. The supply station of claim 2, wherein a. the first fluid transfer system includes a wick that is integrally formed with the absorbent pad, the wick extending, when the supply station is in the activated configuration, through the fluid transfer structure and within the fluid container lower; and b. the second fluid transfer system includes a fluid transfer tube that has a tube end 15 and an upper tube end which, when the supply station is placed in its active configuration, are respectively pushed through the seals closing the upper and lower neck openings to extend into the upper and lower containers, the upper tube end 0 then being in open communication with the liquid in the upper liquid container while the lower tube end is in communication with the flow control means including a floating ball retainer assembly which closes the end of lower tube when the The liquid level in the lower liquid container is at or above a selected level, to control the passage of liquid from the upper to lower liquid containers 4.

The supply station of claim 2, wherein the portion of insect access and feed includes a conical flexible support member that extends upwardly when the supply station is in its preactivated configuration and that is inverted to extend downwardly when the supply station is in its activated configuration to allow the container of upper liquid moves in an axial direction towards the lower liquid container to cause the fluid transfer structure to pierce the seals closing the neck openings of the liquid containers, providing liquid transfer from the lower liquid container towards the absorbent feeding pad and from the container of liquid above the lower liquid container.

The supply station of claim 1, wherein the first liquid is a formulation substantially free of substances toxic to insects and contains a bait that is attractive to insects, and the second liquid is a formulation that contains both the bait as a toxic substance for insects.

The supply station of claim 5, wherein the second liquid contains a poisonous formulation dependent on concentration.

7. A method for controlling insect populations comprising the steps of: a. providing a two-stage liquid poison-bait delivery station made in accordance with claim 1, wherein the second liquid contains a substance toxic to the insect; b. place the supply station in its activated configuration; and c. expose the supply station to the insects that will be controlled.

8. The method for controlling an insect population of claim 7, wherein a. the upper and lower containers of the supply station have a neck opening and a seal closes each seal opening; b. the fluid transfer system includes a first fluid transfer system that supplies the first liquid to the absorbent feed pad and a second fluid transfer system that delivers the second liquid to the lower liquid container to be mixed with any remaining portion of the first liquid and being supplied from the lower container to the transparent supply pad by the first fluid transfer system; and c. the dispensing station further includes a transfer structure containing the first and second fluid transfer systems and is adapted to penetrate the seals that close the neck openings of the upper and lower liquid containers when the supply station is in place. Activated configuration to make the first and second fluids accessible for fluid transfer systems.

9. The method for controlling an insect population of claim 8, wherein a. the first fluid transfer system includes a wick that is integrally formed with the absorbent pad, the wick extending, when the supply station is in the activated configuration, through the fluid transfer structure and within the lower fluid container; and b. the second fluid transfer system includes a fluid transfer tube having a lower tube end and an upper tube end which, when the supply station is placed in its activated configuration, are respectively pushed through the seals that they close the upper and lower neck openings to extend into the upper and lower containers, the upper tube end then being in open communication with the liquid in the upper liquid container while the lower tube end is in communication with the flow control means including a floating ball retainer assembly that closes the lower tube end when the liquid level in the lower liquid container is at or above a selected level, to control the passage of liquid from the upper to lower liquid containers.

The method for controlling an insect population of claim 8, wherein a. the insect feed and access portion includes a conical flexible support member that extends upwardly when the supply station is in its preactivated configuration and that is inverted to extend downwardly when the supply station is in its activated configuration to allow that the upper liquid container moves in an axial direction towards the lower liquid container to cause the fluid transfer structure to pierce the seals that close the neck openings of the liquid containers, providing liquid transfer from the liquid container. lower liquid to the absorbent feed pad and from the upper liquid container to the lower liquid container; and b. the step of placing the supply station in its activated position which includes pushing the upper liquid container and the lower liquid container towards each other to invert the flexible, conical support member and cause the fluid transfer structure to perforate the seals that close the neck openings of liquid containers.

The method for controlling an insect population of claim 7, wherein the first liquid is a formulation substantially free of substances toxic to insects and contains a bait that is attractive to insects and, the second liquid is a formulation which contains both the bait and a substance toxic to insects.

The method for controlling an insect population of claim 7, wherein the poison-containing formulation is a poisonous, concentration-dependent formulation.

The method for controlling an insect population of claim 7, wherein the insects are flying insects.

14. The method for controlling an insect population of claim 7, wherein the insects are wasps.