Natural Insecticidal Plants
Insecticides are substances that are harmful to insects. While numerous synthetic insecticides are on the market that are chemically manufactured, many plants have evolved their own natural insecticides over time. As such, these plants are often more resistant to insect incursion, and they are less in need of artificially added insecticide. Does this Spark an idea?
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Concentration
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Plants that produce their own natural insecticide tend to produce insecticide that is much weaker than the synthetic poison used on plants. According to Professor Arthur C. Gibson at UCLA, many plants that have naturally occurring insecticide don't produce it in levels that are dangerous to much beyond bugs. The obvious reason is because the plants have evolved specifically to fight off insects that damage them, and the poison has not developed to hurt other creatures.
Safety
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Generally speaking, plants that produce an insecticide aren't harmful to humans unless you ingest the insecticide over time and in significant amounts. For instance, nicotine is a natural insecticide that in concentrated doses is deadly. However, you have to collect the nicotine from several plants and separate it from the plant to make it pure enough to act as a poison. These poisons are also biodegradable, which means that they will break down in the environment over a shorter period of time than synthetic insecticides will.
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Examples
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A variety of different substances that occur naturally in plants kill insects. Nicotine occurs naturally in tobacco plants, for instance, and it is preserved when those plants are used for cigarettes. Pyrethrum is a chemical that comes from a type of chrysanthemum found in Africa, specifically in Kenya, and it's been shown to cause the death of insects. Sabadilla is a material that can cause an unpleasant sensation and irritation in mammals as well as death in insects, and rotenone is a poison that is put out by the roots of the derris plant in Asia.
Organic Pesticides
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The purpose of these natural insecticides is to protect the plant that is growing them. However, these insecticides may be harvested commercially and used to make organic insecticide to protect other plants that don't naturally have this poisonous defense. Not only are the plants protected, but the insecticide is organic and biodegradable as well. This sort of insecticide doesn't have problems such as washing away into groundwater or rivers and affecting larger portions of the environment.
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References
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