Alumnus Aditya Prabhu's start-up company adopts original approach to tackle Japanese beetles

Alumnus Aditya Prabhu co-founded a start-up company Alure with James Duquette to attract and eliminate Japanese beetles, an invasive species that can strip the foliage of more than 300 plant species. Prabhu earned his bachelor's degree in computer engineering in spring 2024, and Duquette is a student in the Carlson School of Management majoring in finance and entrepreneurship. 

The infused netting technology that the team have developed sidesteps the challenges of prevalent methods: pesticides can be hazardous to humans, pollinators, and the environment broadly, and pheromone traps can fill up and allow the beetles to escape back into the environment. With the newly developed technology that is still undergoing testing, a mesh enclosure attracts and traps Japanese beetles using pheromones and then exposes them to a low dose of insecticide. The method not only catches the beetles, but also eliminates them. 

Read more about Prabhu and Alure in the story covered by the College of Science and Engineering.