SightTraps - A Year in Review
Ethan Estabrook, BCE - Research Associate, Insects Limited
Wow! What a ride the last year has been!
We started 2020 by taking SightTrap selfies at the Purdue Pest Conference in January before the pandemic hit and then at an IPM Remote Monitoring training program in February.
We visited pet food, seed, and food processing facilities in those early months of the year to help assist in SightTrap installations.
2020 looked to be a great year!
As we all know, March 2020, COVID-19 completely changed everything.
Like with most companies, Insects Limited began working remotely from home. We were unable to continue visiting facilities to help assist in SightTrap installations.
We reassessed our plan moving forward and decided to refocus on improving software developments.
Insects Limited President Pat Kelley and Vice President Tom Mueller pose for a SightTrap selfie at the Purdue Pest Management Conference in January 2020.
Insects Limited Research Associate Ethan Estabrook poses for a SightTrap selfie at a IPM remote monitoring training program in February 2020.
SightTrap Improvements
In May 2020, we introduced our largest firmware update called release-12. We were able to push the new release-22 update to all connected SightTraps remotely. Release-12 helped improve user experience, reliability, and functionality. Some of the updates included:
Improved Bluetooth communication between mobile phones and SightTraps during setup
Extended battery life up to 30% to help coincide with 90 - 120 day pheromone changes
Ability to connect to both 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi networks
Ability to connect to open Wi-Fi networks
Moved all communication to AWS and Mender on port 443
As we navigated though 2020 we quickly learned that there were definite benefits to remote monitoring for pests when people could not physically be present. We saw that COVID-19 did not decrease SightTrap installations, it actually increased them. We learned that the SightTrap offered IPM and QA managers the tools necessary to continue monitoring insects throughout a pandemic. Once SightTraps became FCC (US) and CE (EU) approved, we had the opportunity to help virtually install SightTraps all around the world at flour mills, bakeries, peanut processing plants, automated warehouses, tobacco storage facilities, seed warehouses, grain bins, retail stores, museums, and even in a cave. (Read about SightTrap Working within a Cave System).
SightTrap installed at a retail pet food store to help protect products and brand names from stored product insects.
SightTrap installed at a fully automated warehouse where individuals are unable to access hard to reach areas to monitor for stored product insects on a routine basis.
We were able to see firsthand how SightTraps helped solve difficult insect related issues. One example is a large (600,000 ft2) pet food warehouse struggling to find the source of stored product insects. We installed SightTraps throughout the warehouse and were able to identify the areas with the most activity within a few days. We then concentrated SightTraps to those areas to help further pinpoint the source population. After a few more days, we performed detailed inspections near those areas and identified a damaged bag of dog food infested with insects. Within a week, SightTraps helped us find and remove the source of stored product insects that may have otherwise gone unnoticed. Seeing is believing!
Solve Insect Issues with SightTrap
Another example of how SightTraps helped solve difficult insect-related issues was at a seed warehouse. At the end of summer, farmers return unused seed back to seed companies where they recondition, repackage, and store the seed for the next season. SightTraps were able to immediately identify an infested seed return that was brought into the facility.
Insects Limited Vice President Tom Mueller sets up a SightTrap at a pet food warehouse.
Utilizing SightTraps helped identify the source of stored product insects at a pet food warehouse.
SightTraps showed the increased Indian meal moth and the IPM manager was able to show the QA manager photos taken by the SightTrap. Seeing how fast moth activity was increasing, the IPM and QA managers decided to perform a treatment before things became problematic. SightTraps can help provide real-time pest data and can provide managers the time to make crucial decisions.
As we helped customers install SightTraps for flying insects, we learned there was a need to remotely monitor crawling insects on floors as well.
We created an attachment that allowed the SightTrap to be placed on the floor to take images of glue board traps and pit fall traps like the All Beetle Trap.
This presents new opportunities for the SightTrap from expanding its use at facilities to monitoring more insect species such as clothes moths, carpet beetles, dermestid larvae, flour beetles, grain beetles, cockroaches, and causal invaders.
Currently, SightTraps placed on the floor are being utilized at museums and historic homes to monitor for dermestid larvae, clothes moths, silverfish, and other crawling insect activity.
Textiles, animal hides, taxidermy, woodworks, natural fibers (like wool), books, and paintings contain material that insects can exploit and do irreversible damage to.
The information provided by SightTraps can help make effective pest management decisions to protect and ensure the continued longevity of important historical artifacts and objects of cultural heritage.
Image from a SightTrap placed on the floor to monitor for dermestid larvae, clothes moths, silverfish, and other crawling insects at a historic home
SightTrap installed in a museum’s natural history collection to monitor for insects that may damage textiles, animal hides, taxidermy, wood works, natural fibers (like wool and cotton), books, and paintings.
The Future of SightTrap
We are excited to see what the future hold for the SightTrap. We are currently working on website features to help improve the user experience. Some of our current projects include:
Allowing for multiple thresholds that permit customers to choose a variety of insect species, number of insects, and number of days.
An improved alert and notification system of when thresholds are met, when glue boards need to be changed, and when pheromone lures expire.
An improved and more detailed summary data report helping identify insect counts, temperature, and humidity on specific days.
The SightTrap and its software ForesightIPM can be a valuable tool for IPM and QA managers by providing information, such as the detection of insects, insect species, population trends, and locations of infestations.
If you are interested in knowing more about the SightTrap, contact Ethan Estabrook at 317-896-9300 or E.Estabrook@InsectsLimited.com
Insects Limited, an Insect Pheromone Company
Insects Limited, Inc. researches, tests, develops, manufactures and distributes pheromones and trapping systems for insects in a global marketplace. The highly qualified staff also can assist with consultation, areas of expert witness, training presentations and grant writing.
Insects Limited, Inc. specializes in a unique niche of pest control that provides mainstream products and services to protect stored food, grain, museum collections, tobacco, timber and fiber worldwide. Please take some time to view these products and services in our web store.
