Journal of Pest Science (2015) 88, 439-449

Elias Böckmann, Martin Hommes and Rainer Meyhöfer (2015)
Yellow traps reloaded: what is the benefit for decision making in practice?
Journal of Pest Science 88 (2), 439-449
Abstract: Sticky traps are a standard tool for monitoring alate arthropod pests in greenhouses. However, in practice, evaluation of traps over the whole growing season is rarely done. For decision making by growers, sticky traps are often only used for detection of pest presence. The reason behind is that although many studies show that pest population densities can be estimated using sticky traps under experimental conditions, validation under growing conditions and monitoring of beneficials are often lacking. In the current study, we evaluated whether trap densities recommended for practice are sufficient to estimate pest population densities of Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) and its natural enemy Encarsia formosa (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) in protected tomato cultures throughout the growing season. Our results show that trap catches provide reliable information about pest densities, in which correlations differed for specific developmental stages, i.e. adults < nymphs < nymphs (previous week). A single yellow sticky trap provided reliable information on nymphal density in the tomato crop on an area of at least 170 m². A rapid increase of parasitoid trap catches indicated high parasitism. In our experiments, a total trap catch of >6 parasitoids/trap was a suitable threshold for sufficient natural enemy activity in the tomato crop. The implementation of these results in practice and the transferability to other cropping systems are discussed.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Rainer Meyhöfer, Martin Hommes

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
pheromones/attractants/traps
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
surveys/distribution/isolation

---

Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Trialeurodes vaporariorum
Encarsia formosa (parasitoid)	Trialeurodes vaporariorum