Three University of Minnesota students from the Carlson School of Management developed a new bug repellent, called Alure, aimed toward eradicating Japanese beetles, an invasive insect in North America.

Aditya Prabhu grew up picking Japanese beetles with his parents from the plum trees in his backyard. 

“Every summer, instead of going out and being able to play soccer with everyone else, my mom, she did not like touching the bugs, so she would have me and my brother come outside and then just pick them by hand,” Prabhu said.

Prabhu, who graduated from the University in May last year, wanted to find a solution.

The idea eventually led to an innovation, which began in an entrepreneurship class where students were expected to launch their own startup.

Mohamed Hammadelniel and James Duquette met Prabhu in this class, where he pitched the idea to come up with a way of getting rid of Japanese beetles.

While conducting research, Duquette raised click beetles, another pest in North America similar to Japanese beetles.

Duquette raised these beetles in his closet so that they could be used for testing any theories they had for getting rid of Japanese beetles.

The initial plan, based on their research, was to use crushed beetles mixed with soapy water as a repellent for beetles on the plants.

The team said crushed beetles were the starting point because they had heard from other gardens that crushed beetles seemed to keep other beetles away.

This initial plan proved to be ineffective due to limited supply, among other reasons. Another problem the team faced was figuring out what consistency of soapy water and crushed beetles to use for the solution.

“It ended up becoming very complicated,” Prabhu said. “It is not something we can test very easily, there wasn’t any guarantee that it would actually kill the beetles, it would only keep them away for a while.”

The team learned about malaria nets used in Africa to repel mosquitoes, and this is what started the formation of their final idea. These nets use a very small amount of insecticide.

“We actually tested it on the beetles that grew in my closet first, and it worked,” Duquette said.

The mesh nets are placed where needed, and Japanese beetle pheromone lures are placed inside the net to attract the beetles. The mesh net has an insecticide on it that kills beetles as soon as they land on it.

The team did not share what insecticide they used or their manufacturer due to confidentiality reasons. 

“I think it’ll be great for homeowners, vineyard growers and other commercial growers and also on golf courses,” Duquette said. 

Japanese beetles are noted pests for roughly 300 plants, Duquette said. 

Their innovation won the MN Cup, the largest state-wide startup competition, in the student division in 2024 and received $25,000 in funding. Prabhu used the funding for manufacturing, research and development.

“The plan is that we hopefully become the guys known for Japanese beetles,” Hammadelniel said. “If people know Alure as the company that finally did something about Japanese beetles, then I think I will be really happy about the company.”

Prabhu and his team know the product works, but said more data needs to be collected about how many beetles are being attracted and killed by this and if the solution will help enough people.

After the data is collected, the product will just need approval from the Environmental Protection Agency before being commercially available. They are hoping to have approval by next year.