Ensystex has announced its new range of flying insect traps, which uses LED technology in a unique way.
Electronic flying insect killer traps use UVA light to hygienically and effectively capture flying insects. They are one of the most profitable product lines for professional pest managers. Electronic flying insect killer traps equipped with UVA emitting fluorescent tubes are designed to exploit the phototactic behaviour (attraction to light) displayed by houseflies and other flying pest species.
The challenge with modern flying insect killer traps has been to make them more environmentally responsible, since fluorescent lamps are less energy efficient when compared to modern LED lamps. They also contain chemicals such as mercury. Whilst LED technology has been well established for many years, it has proven difficult to adapt this technology to produce light in the UVA range, sufficient for attracting houseflies and other vector species.
This has been a significant area of investment and research by Ensystex. Regional director Steve Broadbent is now pleased to announce the launch of the Vectothor High-Performance LED range of flying insect control units.
Mr Broadbent explained, “Two core challenges existed: firstly, creating enough UVA light to attract the flies, and secondly, presenting it in such a manner as to provide fly-catching performance equal to the traditional fluorescent models.
“Early in the development process of producing a high-performance LED lamp, it became clear that fly landing behaviour was negatively impacted by LED lights and, as a direct consequence, kill rates were reduced. This led to the development of our own Astron Eco-LED UVA brand of lamps.
“Astron Eco-LED UVA Lamps uniquely incorporate our Vectothor ‘Dynamic oscillation pulse technology’ into the lamp circuitry. Vectothor ‘Dynamic oscillation pulse technology’ uses a proprietary logarithm that has been developed to cause fluctuations in the light beam that are imperceptible by people, but which greatly influence and improve fly catch rates. This allowed us to achieve the performance levels we required to bring this range to the market.
“The Astron Eco-LED UVA Lamps produce UVA light optimised to perfectly match the housefly’s vision spectrum which, in association with Vectothor ‘Dynamic oscillation pulse technology’, guarantees the quick capture of flying insects.”
“We believe that a major reason for why we see improved performance with our LED models is because all the UVA light emitted by the Astron LED lamp is directed in the direction of the insect eye. Conventional fluorescent UVA lamps emit light through 360 degrees, so half of this light falls towards the back of the unit, in the direction of the glueboard, which serves no real function.
“We refer to this benefit of LED lamps as the ‘UV light-to-eye ratio’ i.e. the amount of UVA light emitted by the light source that can be perceived by the facet eye of the insects in the area.
“With the Astron LED lamp, the UV light-to-eye ratio is 100% (100% of the UV light emitted is going in the right direction). With a conventional lamp the UV light-to-eye ratio is typically only 50%.”
The Vectothor LED range currently consists of four models: Falcon LED, Osprey LED, Buzzard LED and Peregrine3 LED. All feature the same 15 W Astron LED lamps (main picture, above), which use up to 50% less energy than traditional fluorescent lamps. “This significant reduction in energy usage and running costs is only one of the core benefits of the Astron LED lamps,” commented Mr Broadbent. “Each lamp lasts for three years, which means less waste going to landfill.”
The lamps are a uniquely shatterproof design with no glass used in their manufacture, which makes them ideal for use in HACCP establishments. They contain zero harmful substances – no mercury or lead – giving another environmental benefit. The Vectothor High-Performance LED range uses Ensystex’s REACH (safety) compliant, temperature-optimised glueboards and Natural Contrast Grids for improved fly-trapping performance.
Mr Broadbent added, “At the end of this year, we will also be launching our ‘Neuronic active insect recognition technology’ as a further benefit to professional pest managers offering the Vectothor range of products. This smartphone-based system will not only automatically count the number of flies caught on the glueboard, it will identify the species of flies caught too.
“The system, which will run on both iOS and android phones, will provide professional pest managers with a significant market benefit. They will be able to provide their clients with regular reports on insect activity trends, better identify infestation sources to determine improved control programs based on the species identification, and better support their client’s duty-of-care needs by maintaining accurate ongoing records.
“We live in the information age, and an increasing number of companies involved in the food industry require this higher standard of reporting.”
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