At a Glance
- Blue Mountains funnel-web spider, most venomous spider on planet.
For decades, researchers sought ways to take the venom from the most venomous spider on the planet, the Blue Mountains funnel-web spider, and package the venom to control insects in an insecticide.
Earlier this century, Vestaron, based in Kalamazoo, Mich., found a way to do that, and in 2014, after a successful registration with the Environmental Protection Agency, released its first product, Spear T, derived from the venom of the Blue Mountain funnel-web spider. Spear T was targeted to thrips, whiteflies and spider mites in greenhouse settings. It is based on a peptide in versutoxin, the major component of the venom of the Blue Mountain funnel-web spider.
Today, Vestaron is the leading producer of peptide-based bioinsecticides. At Commodity Classic in Orlando March 8 to 11, Vestaron highlighted its latest Spear product, Spear RC, derived from versutoxin. Spear RC is targeted to cotton, soybean, rice and other broader acre crops to control lepidopteran pests such as cotton bollworm, soybean looper and armyworms.
Hugh Beckham, Vestaron territory manager for the Mid-South, says Spear RC works in conjunction with Leprotec, another Vestaron product, to kill worms. Beckham says the mixture is one quart of Spear RC and one pint of Leprotec.
Beckham notes that field trials show Spear RC performs similar to conventional insecticides. He says Vestaron’s Spear products have gone through field testing over 500 trials over five years in eight countries. He says Spear is an excellent integrated pest management (IPM) and resistance management tool. With no known resistance or cross resistance, Spear RC works as a standalone or in rotation with conventional insecticides.
“Spear is great for bees and other beneficials. It is very environmentally friendly. We’ve seen a lot of resistance problems in our industry, and that’s one thing we bring to the market is no resistance in our product. Spear is a new mode of action, Group 32,” Beckham says.
R.J. Byrne, Vestaron territory manager for the Southeast, says many are taken aback that Spear is derived from spider venom. They question if it is safe to use.
“I was visiting with a consultant about Spear, explaining how it works and that it comes from the world’s most venomous spider, and he says ‘oh my gosh, does the label have a skull and crossbones on it?’ I say, ‘no,” this product has very low toxicity to mammalians and off-target species.”
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