HYDERABAD: A student of the University of Hyderabad (UoH) has invented an effective solution for pest problems in campus hostels. The study was published in the Indian Journal of Entomology.
Tejas Anto Kannampuzha of the IMSc Sciences - Physics stream of 2022 batch collaborated with Prof BR Shamanna of the School of Medical Sciences to address the problem of acid fly attacks by using ultraviolet-A radiation from the light source used in the hostel rooms.
Tejas found that the acid flies (Paederus spp) which are rove beetles induce acidic burns on skin during night contact called Paederus dermatitis and are considered a global pest. He conducted a research study among 209 hostel inmates affected by an outbreak of Paederus dermatitis in the UoH hostel to study the effect of light on attacks by this pest.
His research revealed that LED lights emit significantly less UV-A radiation than CFLs or incandescent lights and have a reduced rate of these acid fly attacks in the rooms that have this source compared to the other light sources like CFL or incandescent lamps.
V-C lauds research team
The consequence of this research is far-reaching in the university campus as just by altering the light source in the rooms by switching to LED lights it can significantly reduce this perennial but irritating pest problem.
Lauding the research, UoH Vice-Chancellor Prof BJ Rao complimented the team for the simple and practically relevant work. He further urged them to undertake the logical sequel to the work to demonstrate the fly attraction coefficient against various forms of light that varies in UV content and light intensity type of parameters.