TY - JOUR

T1 - Yellow traps reloaded: what is the benefit for decision making in practice?

AU - Böckmann, Elias

AU - Hommes, Martin

AU - Meyhöfer, Rainer

N1 - Funding information: We thank the team of gardeners for maintenance of the tomato greenhouse cultures. Thanks also go to Kerstin Koenneke and Anton Sartisohn for assistance in the experiments and Sebastian Laurenz for language editing. Additionally we thank all Gezonde Kas partners for the fruitful discussions and especially Lia Hemerik and Maaike Wubs for critical comments on earlier versions of the manuscript. The project “Gezonde Kas – Gesundes Gewächshaus” ( www.gezondekas.eu ) is co-financed within the framework of the INTERREG IV A-programme Deutschland-Nederland by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Ministerie van Economische Zaken (NL), the Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wirtschaft, Arbeit und Verkehr (D), the Ministerium für Wirtschaft, Energie, Bauen, Wohnen und Verkehr des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen (D), the Provinicie Drenthe (NL), the Provincie Limburg (NL), the Provincie Gelderland (NL), and the Provincie Groningen (NL). It is accompanied by the program management of the Euregio Rhein-Waal.

PY - 2015/6/18

Y1 - 2015/6/18

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - Encarsia formosa

KW - Introduction regime

KW - Parasitoid

KW - Sticky trap

KW - Trap density

KW - Trialeurodes vaporariorum

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84940289078&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s10340-014-0601-7

DO - 10.1007/s10340-014-0601-7

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84940289078

VL - 88

SP - 439

EP - 449

JO - Journal of pest science

JF - Journal of pest science

SN - 1612-4758

IS - 2

ER -