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Nov. 19, 2003
Slugs on Drugs
The Effectiveness of Caffeine as a Pesticide Against South Florida Snails, Bulimulus guadalupensis
Bryan Yancey, 15, Miami, Fla.
Lowell Observatory "Star Gazer" Award, Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge, 2003
Project background: After doing some research, Bryan learned that caffeine has been used in recent years as a pesticide against a frog species in Hawaii. Bryan was interested in seeing if caffeine-based pesticides would also be effective against agricultural pests in south Florida. After a few preliminary experiments, Bryan found that caffeine was toxic to snails and slugs. He decided to observe and analyze the effect on a south Florida snail, Bulimulus guadalupensis.
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| V. Miller |
Tactics & results: Bryan obtained a terrarium and stocked it with a collection of plants and snails from the local area. Test plants were sprayed with a 1600 mg/liter concentration of a caffeine solution and placed at one end of the terrarium. Ten snails were placed at the opposite end. After a specified time, Bryan counted the snails infesting the plant area. Bryan repeated this test five more times with different plants and snails, lowering the caffeine solution concentration (800, 600, 400, 200, and 0 mg/liter) each time. He found that the 800-mg/liter solution was the lowest concentration that had 100-percent effectiveness in keeping the snails away from the plants. Bryan is interested in further exploring the effect caffeine-based pesticides may have on other pests as well as their environmental impact.
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