Location: Agroecosystem Management Research
Project Number: 3042-10400-001-007-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Jun 15, 2026
End Date: Jun 14, 2027
Objective:
Invasive snails are serious pests that affect a wide array of agricultural commodities and transmissible on non-food/non-feed imports. This project targets invasive snails that attach to shipping containers and pose a risk of introduction at ports where current control relies on slow, resource-intensive fumigation. Because snails often aestivate and may move before treatment, containment can fail, contributing to recent port-associated invasions. The objective of this research collaboration is to co-develop non-traditional pesticides such as semiochemical -based fumigants to prevent and treat invasive snail infestations of agricultural products in shipping containers while they are stored at port before invasion can occur into surrounding areas. We will explore the use of natural-product based semiochemical compounds to replace methyl bromide, which is being phased out, to control or prevent invasive snail infestations in shipping containers. The expected outcomes are to prevent significant economic losses to agricultural commodities and reduce/avoid the cost of post-invasion snail eradication programs by developing semiochemical-based snail mitigation practices and reducing snail invasion risk at ports of entry.
Approach:
This collaboration addresses the development of semiochemically-based repellent compounds to use as intervention tools to deter and control invasive snails in shipping container environments. The first stage of this research is to develop and screen attractant and repellent blends that consist of coconut fatty acids which the US Food and Drug Administration categorize as “Generally Recognized as Safe” (GRAS) and essential oils which are listed as EPA 25(b) Exempt Pesticides of minimum risk. A combination of laboratory and field assays will be used to determine how semiochemical-based strategies manipulate snail behavior to attractants and repellents and snail susceptibility to fumigants under port-relevant conditions. Collaborations will support electrophysiological screening, chemical release analysis, and fumigation testing. The second stage of the research is to use the chemical blends identified to achieve maximum repellent activity and extended duration of effectiveness for snail control to develop optimal delivery systems for applying these compounds in shipping container environments. Specifically, we will identify optimal compound quantity, exposure times, and delivery matrix types to effectively deploy the identified repellent formulations at scale to control for invasive snails.