EFFICIENCY OF WINDOW MESH TYPES AND SIZES AS BARRIERS AGAINST DROSOPHILA

ABSTRACT

Food crops suffer from economic damages caused by insect pests, and the use of physical barriers such as mesh is an effective means for pest control. Nets are widely used in agriculture as mechanical or physical barriers against insect pests like Drosophila sp. causes damages to food crops and may cause various ailments as they act as vectors. The net blocks penetration of Drosophila sp. and also have effect on the ventilations. This experiment was to show size and mesh type that was effective against Drosophila sp. completely. Drosophila sp. which is a ripened fruit loving insect is a threat to perishable fruits. The results from this study showed that mesh types can prevent Drosophila sp. from gaining entrance into any facility that is screened off using mesh. However, the commonly used mesh for our homes cannot effectively restrict Drosophila sp. from accessing our homes that are protected using the single layer mesh because 9 body parts are smaller than their dimensions. The recommended mesh had a length (0.42 ± 0.510 mm), width (0.328 ± 0.051mm), diagonal (0.565 ± 0.012mm) and area (0.153 ± 0.17mm). It was observed that the mesh with smaller dimensions had reduced ventilation which could reduce airflow in the screen house designed for crop production and storage. This poor ventilation could accelerate spoilage in harvested crops especially in perishable crops