Pests are the cause for a variety of plant problems, such as growth hindrance, consumption of plant leaves, and environmental damages, which has led to the use of pest control in both chemical and natural forms (PBCgov). However, chemical forms of pest control can be toxic to people (NRDC) and are present in 33.3% of crops (Havahart), and natural pest control methods can poison environments equally, if not worse (Bahlai 1). Studies have been conducted using an electrostatic pulse device, but such devices leave the pest on the plant, waiting to be picked (Takikawa). Although this is impractical for gardens with several plants, it does support the idea that electromagnetic fields could be used as a form of pest control. Background research supports the idea that an electromagnetic fields can not only leave plants intact, but stimulate growth (Rostami), and can be used to surround a plant. A stationary system could repel or kill pests while leaving the plant intact, with little maintenance. The goal of this experiment is to create a pest control device using electromagnetic fields to repel or kill pests without harming the plant.

A device was created using a function generator to power a solenoid core. TWO wooden dowels were cut to fit inside a terrarium to guide the solenoid's wire through and out. Resistors were attached to the wire to prevent shorting of the generator. Milkweed bugs were then placed inside the terrarium, which was sealed with saran wrap afterwards. A set-up using a camera, ring stand, and graph paper was used to track movement. After running trials with and without an active field, videos were analyzed for bug behavior and movement speed, then calculated for standard deviation and averages, among other statistical tests.

The movement speed slowed down with the field in trial 1. However, trial 2 showed the opposite, and trial 3 did not show much difference at all. However, each bug's displacement relative to the field almost always increased when the field was applied. This suggests that while an electromagnetic field may be a usable pest control method yet.

More trials are needed to confirm whether electromagnetic fields are a viable method of pest control. A similar experiment conducted with more control of bug related variables (bug size and health) and preliminaries to confirm the strength of the field at certain ranges could create conclusive evidence. Other methods, such as tagging the bugs in the trial and measuring movement on walls will reduce human error and provide more accurate results.