GEOGANIC
A story about designing an environmentally friendly stinkbug trap
We started this group project with one guideline, it had to relate to water. As we delved deeper into our project, it became very research based.
Our design process began with us developing an ideation game to help us generate a solid idea. We paired up one observation about water, and one action, and then kept the most interesting pairs. We eventually eliminated every pair ending up with two topics: “The way water rolls off of a window”, and “Stomping on bugs.” From this we considered the possibility of using water in an environmentally friendly way to capture pests without any destructive residues.
We began our research on the idea by meeting with Eric R. Day, the manager of the Insect Identification Lab at Virginia Tech. From him, we learned of some common house pests and discovered that Stink Bugs are becoming even more of a problem at that time of the year. We were then directed to Doug Pfeiffer, a professor in Insect Pest Management who is currently doing research on Stink bugs.
From interviewing Doug Pfeiffer, we discovered that the problems with stink bugs go far beyond the home. Stink bugs are a major pest in farms, destroying produce and endangering the businesses of many farmers. From our first encounter with Pfeiffer, we learned that this was an area in need and this lead us to focus on stink bugs.
Our design process began with us developing an ideation game to help us generate a solid idea. We paired up one observation about water, and one action, and then kept the most interesting pairs. We eventually eliminated every pair ending up with two topics: “The way water rolls off of a window”, and “Stomping on bugs.” From this we considered the possibility of using water in an environmentally friendly way to capture pests without any destructive residues.
We began our research on the idea by meeting with Eric R. Day, the manager of the Insect Identification Lab at Virginia Tech. From him, we learned of some common house pests and discovered that Stink Bugs are becoming even more of a problem at that time of the year. We were then directed to Doug Pfeiffer, a professor in Insect Pest Management who is currently doing research on Stink bugs.
From interviewing Doug Pfeiffer, we discovered that the problems with stink bugs go far beyond the home. Stink bugs are a major pest in farms, destroying produce and endangering the businesses of many farmers. From our first encounter with Pfeiffer, we learned that this was an area in need and this lead us to focus on stink bugs.
We discovered that Brown Marmorated Stink bugs (BMSB) are originally from certain parts of Asia and they were first introduced unintentionally to Pennsylvania, USA in 1996. In Asia, their population was controlled because they had a natural predator but in the USA they have none causing them to multiply rapidly. The climate in the USA allows them to be 2-3 cycles on average more prolific than in Asia. They have already been spotted in 26 states and they are rapidly expanding. They were declared as a national crisis for the farming industry, and a lot more damage is expected.
They first appeared in Virginia in 2004 and have been very destructive since. According to Doug Pfeiffer, some local farmers in Blacksburg, VA have lost 50-80% of their crops due to stink bugs and if this trend continues they wouldn’t be able to stay in business. Stink bugs alone have caused more than $37 million in losses in the Mid Atlantic, and they are continuing to spread.
Brown marmorated stink bugs are a pest to farmers and to people indoors. October to April is their overwintering period causing them to move indoors searching for warmth. From April to August, adults go back outdoors, they start mating and laying eggs on plants. Nymphs (which are young stink bugs without wings) hatch by May and start feeding on vegetables and fruit. From July to September, the nymphs become adult stink bugs which can fly and continue feeding.
They first appeared in Virginia in 2004 and have been very destructive since. According to Doug Pfeiffer, some local farmers in Blacksburg, VA have lost 50-80% of their crops due to stink bugs and if this trend continues they wouldn’t be able to stay in business. Stink bugs alone have caused more than $37 million in losses in the Mid Atlantic, and they are continuing to spread.
Brown marmorated stink bugs are a pest to farmers and to people indoors. October to April is their overwintering period causing them to move indoors searching for warmth. From April to August, adults go back outdoors, they start mating and laying eggs on plants. Nymphs (which are young stink bugs without wings) hatch by May and start feeding on vegetables and fruit. From July to September, the nymphs become adult stink bugs which can fly and continue feeding.
Many have tried making their own stink bug traps but most of them either have flaws that make them ineffective or have not been fully thought out.
We visited a farm with Doug to see some existing traps. We were told tree-like silhouettes, funnels, and a pheromone will attract sting bugs so any effective trap should include those elements. The traps in this farm had these qualities yet they had some flaws.
They attracted other bugs.
They used a pheromone different from that of the BMSB.
Little thought was put into the trap being full therefore they were difficult to clean.
Spiders clogged up the entry ways of the bug traps with webs, making it harder for stink bugs to enter them.
The base of the traps were unstable, and warped in harsh weather.
Many of the traps were very heavy and difficult to move.
Another existing trap is the Rescue Trap but it also comes with flaws.
Some people have said, the Rescue Trap mostly facilitates a “collection” of dead bugs that will “dehydrate and die” and its instruction manual suggest that, “the user could get rid of them by flushing them down the toilet” which we found could be a hard step for some.
Though there seemed to be a lack of completion in all the existing stink bug traps we looked at, a reoccurring aspect that seemed to be beneficial in some of them was a funneling trap entrance.
We visited a farm with Doug to see some existing traps. We were told tree-like silhouettes, funnels, and a pheromone will attract sting bugs so any effective trap should include those elements. The traps in this farm had these qualities yet they had some flaws.
They attracted other bugs.
They used a pheromone different from that of the BMSB.
Little thought was put into the trap being full therefore they were difficult to clean.
Spiders clogged up the entry ways of the bug traps with webs, making it harder for stink bugs to enter them.
The base of the traps were unstable, and warped in harsh weather.
Many of the traps were very heavy and difficult to move.
Another existing trap is the Rescue Trap but it also comes with flaws.
Some people have said, the Rescue Trap mostly facilitates a “collection” of dead bugs that will “dehydrate and die” and its instruction manual suggest that, “the user could get rid of them by flushing them down the toilet” which we found could be a hard step for some.
Though there seemed to be a lack of completion in all the existing stink bug traps we looked at, a reoccurring aspect that seemed to be beneficial in some of them was a funneling trap entrance.
We decided to conduct experiments to better understand the habits of stink bugs. We used different materials to create stink bug friendly environments using the information we had gathered about them. We did this by categorizing different elements such as shapes, colors and textures. Finally, we introduced stink bugs into these new environments.
Some new things we learned:
They loved climbing up.
They loved hiding in small crevices.
They preferred materials with irregular texture.
They were attracted mainly to black, green and yellow.
Combining research from other sources and from our experiments, we concluded that the things that appealed to stink bugs the most are small openings, the colors green, yellow and black, tree-like structures and funneling spaces.
Considering that our market consists mostly of farmers, the use of pesticides or any other chemical pest control option was out of consideration. Our many experiments and observations of homeowners and farmers proved to us that the use of water was very effective in immobilizing the bugs and we liked the idea of a trap that benefits from the weather conditions.
We explored different forms in and out of nature and decided to use a form that was reminiscent of the stink bug. We described this as “geoganic”: the combination of geometric shapes to achieve an organic feel.
Some new things we learned:
They loved climbing up.
They loved hiding in small crevices.
They preferred materials with irregular texture.
They were attracted mainly to black, green and yellow.
Combining research from other sources and from our experiments, we concluded that the things that appealed to stink bugs the most are small openings, the colors green, yellow and black, tree-like structures and funneling spaces.
Considering that our market consists mostly of farmers, the use of pesticides or any other chemical pest control option was out of consideration. Our many experiments and observations of homeowners and farmers proved to us that the use of water was very effective in immobilizing the bugs and we liked the idea of a trap that benefits from the weather conditions.
We explored different forms in and out of nature and decided to use a form that was reminiscent of the stink bug. We described this as “geoganic”: the combination of geometric shapes to achieve an organic feel.
The Geoganic trap has as its main goal to reduce the amount of crop damage caused by stink bugs.
Tight spaces were designed to attract the insects into the trap (based on research and observations). A mechanism consisting of a buoyant ball and a rubber cap uses the idea of the toilet flushing system to get rid of bugs automatically at different times of the day.
Rain water, irrigation systems or even water poured on the top area would be enough to trigger the mechanism leading to the cleansing out of the bugs and the trap itself. The bugs are flushed to the bottom of the trap which consist of a “stink bug coffin.” It is a biodegradable container that screws to the rest of the trap and is planted into the ground during the farming season. The coffin fills up with bugs and at the end of the season when the farmer unscrews the trap from the coffin, they have the option to dispose of the coffin or to simply let it biodegrade into the ground.
Tight spaces were designed to attract the insects into the trap (based on research and observations). A mechanism consisting of a buoyant ball and a rubber cap uses the idea of the toilet flushing system to get rid of bugs automatically at different times of the day.
Rain water, irrigation systems or even water poured on the top area would be enough to trigger the mechanism leading to the cleansing out of the bugs and the trap itself. The bugs are flushed to the bottom of the trap which consist of a “stink bug coffin.” It is a biodegradable container that screws to the rest of the trap and is planted into the ground during the farming season. The coffin fills up with bugs and at the end of the season when the farmer unscrews the trap from the coffin, they have the option to dispose of the coffin or to simply let it biodegrade into the ground.
Geoganic allows farmers to worry less about stink bugs and have more bountiful crops and produce.
