scholarly journals The Efficacy of Ultrasonic Pest Repellent Devices against the Australian Paralysis Tick, Ixodes holocyclus (Acari: Ixodidae)

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 400
Author(s):  
Amonrat Panthawong ◽  
Stephen L. Doggett ◽  
Theeraphap Chareonviriyaphap

Ultrasonic pest repellers are often promoted as a means of protecting people and pets from the bites of hematophagous arthropods, such as ticks. However, to date, there has been no published research on the effectiveness of these devices against the Australian paralysis tick, Ixodes holocyclus Neumann. The purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of nine ultrasonic devices against female I. holocyclus. Two arenas were constructed, one for the test (with the ultrasonic device) and one for the control (no device). Each arena had a test and an escape chamber, connected by a corridor. Twenty ticks were placed in each test chamber. After the ultrasonic device was operated for 1 h, the number of ticks in both chambers was recorded. Ten replicates were conducted for each device. The average number of ticks that moved from the test to the escape chamber was greater in all the test arenas, with three devices being statistically different from the control. However, the highest percent of ticks that escaped was only 19.5%. This amount is insufficient to offer adequate protection against tick bites and this study adds further weight to previous investigations that ultrasonic devices should not be employed in pest management.

Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
pp. 2273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kiheum You ◽  
Seung-Hwan Kim ◽  
Hojong Choi

In ultrasonic systems, power amplifiers are one of the most important electronic components used to supply output voltages to ultrasonic devices. If ultrasonic devices have low sensitivity and limited maximum allowable voltages, it can be quite challenging to detect the echo signal in the ultrasonic system itself. Therefore, the class-J power amplifier, which can generate high output power with high efficiency, is proposed for such ultrasonic device applications. The class-J power amplifier developed has a power efficiency of 63.91% and a gain of 28.16 dB at 25 MHz and 13.52 dBm input. The pulse-echo measurement method was used to verify the performance of the electronic components used in the ultrasonic system. The echo signal appearing with the discharged high voltage signal was measured. The amplitude of the first echo signal in the measured echo signal spectrum was 4.4 V and the total-harmonic-distortion (THD), including the fundamental signal and the second harmonic, was 22.35%. The amplitude of the second echo signal was 1.08 V, and the THD, including the fundamental signal and the second harmonic, was 12.45%. These results confirm that a class-J power amplifier can supply a very high output echo signal to an ultrasonic device.


2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Rodriguez-Valle ◽  
Paula Moolhuijzen ◽  
Roberto A. Barrero ◽  
Chian Teng Ong ◽  
Greta Busch ◽  
...  

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