Detection and Monitoring

Abstract

Abstract The more theoretical considerations of insect population sampling and the research objectives inherent to many of the sampling considerations of authors such as McDonald and Manly (1989), Morris (1960), Pedigo and Buntin (1994) and Southwood (1978), are beyond the scope of this book. Rather, this chapter will focus on the sampling methods used by pest control professionals and researchers to obtain counts of German cockroach numbers in the context of ongoing pest management programs or research efforts to study and (for example) to compare the effectiveness of control technologies such as insecticides. Few research efforts have focused specifically on German cockroach sampling techniques; or considerations inherent to their application in field studies of insecticide efficacy, studies of German cockroach population dynamics and movement behavior, or for other objectives. Artyukhina (1972), Ballard and Gold (1982a, 1983a and 1984a), Moore and Granovsky (1983), Owens and Bennett (1983), Reierson and Rust (1977) and Ross (1981) have reported research which specifically evaluates and compares different sampling techniques in either laboratory or field studies of German cockroaches. There are two basic objectives of sampling efforts applied against German cockroach populations in the context of control or management programs - simple detection of presence and monitoring of changes in population size, spatial distribution or movement patterns by repeated sampling. Pest control professionals usually attempt detection by trapping or visual inspections. During visual inspections, German cockroaches are either directly observed and counted, or signs of their presence such as frass, oothecae and shed cuticles are noted.