Borne from two Ukrainian companies that pioneered a non-chemical approach to mosquito control, a new startup was unveiled recently that hopes to scale up a similar approach to pest control on commercial farms in the United States.

Beetless debuted in late October at FIRA USA, the annual ag technology, and robotics event drawing international attention to new farm technology in specialty crops.

Oleksandra Afanasieva, co-founder and CEO of Beetless, said the technology in the U.S. is still in prototype form, and is being tested by the University of Florida to attract and kill the Asian citrus psyllid, a deadly pest affecting the U.S. citrus industry.

The technology uses a proprietary blend of pheromones, light waves, and sound to attract targeted pests into a machine that sucks the insects in and causes death by dehydrating them. It promises to be a good alternative in organic crops, which have fewer effective insecticides than can be used in conventional crops.

“It is a combination of these physical factors that makes this more appealing to pests than the trees,” Afanasieva said regarding the company’s current testing of Beetless to control the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) in Florida.

Future generations of the Beetless device are planned to be solar powered and will need to be larger than the prototype model on display at FIRA USA. For pest control in orchards, she said machines could be placed in a checkerboard pattern in the orchards or installed on the borders. The current business model is to operate under a service-based business model, meaning farmers would subscribe to have machines placed, serviced, and removed.

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Testing in commercial citrus is ongoing in Brazil, where ACP populations are high, with a large company that produces oranges for orange juice in Sao Paulo. She hopes to continue this work in Florida and is seeking other university partnerships to test and verify the technology.

“We know that scientists have a greater knowledge of the entomology that we could utilize to make our formulas even better, and even more attractive and efficient,” Afanasieva said.