Abstract
Population control of small sucking insects has been challenging, and alternative control methods are constantly being sought. Visual traps have long been used to monitor and control pests. Colored sticky cards are widely used for diurnal pests, but their effects are influenced by environmental light conditions. Artificial light traps are mostly used for nocturnal pests. Here, we explored and evaluated light-emitting diode (LED) traps for the monitoring and control of small diurnal sucking insects using greenhouse tests targeting the greenhouse whitefly Trialeurodes vaporariorum. We tested the trapping efficacy of the LED water pan trap, assessed the most attractive LED light and analyzed its efficacy under different weather conditions. The results showed that the LED water pan trap was too inefficient to be useful. Green LEDs were more attractive than yellow LEDs, UV LEDs and green-UV combinations. Regardless of sunny or cloudy conditions, the green LED trap caught more than twice the number of whiteflies than the yellow sticky card alone under summer shading conditions. Our study suggests that LED traps have a significant field application value in whitefly mass trapping and may also be efficient for other diurnal insects. The design of LED traps specific for diurnal insects is discussed.
Highlights
Due to their small size and their difficulty to detect, in addition to their short life cycle, high fecundity, and outbreak propensity, some small sucking insects, e.g., whiteflies, aphids, and thrips, have become major pests on many agricultural crops worldwide, causing serious economic losses each year.These pests, cause direct damage to plant tissues, and transmit plant viruses and facilitate infections through bacteria and fungi
It can be concluded that the light-emitting diode (LED) water pan trap is water pan trap is much less efficient than the yellow sticky card for monitoring the T. vaporariorum much less efficient than the yellow sticky card for monitoring the T. vaporariorum population
We analyzed the effects of green LEDs under different weather conditions
Summary
Due to their small size and their difficulty to detect, in addition to their short life cycle, high fecundity, and outbreak propensity, some small sucking insects, e.g., whiteflies, aphids, and thrips, have become major pests on many agricultural crops worldwide, causing serious economic losses each year. These pests, cause direct damage to plant tissues, and transmit plant viruses and facilitate infections through bacteria and fungi. Chemical insecticides have been the major control strategy; the control efficacy is not often satisfactory With their small size, these pests avoid insecticide exposure when the application is not thorough. Only systematic agents are highly efficient against these sucking pests
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