Abstract
The use of light traps for controlling insect pests is restricted since they kill both pests and beneficial insects. It may be a possible to reduce the numbers of beneficial insects trapped by adjusting nightly trapping time based on differences recorded in the timing of the nocturnal flight peaks of target pests and beneficials. To test this, insects were collected hourly over night using black light traps at three locations in China from 2003 to 2005. Groups of lepidopteran and coleopteran pests were selected as the target pests that we would control by trapping and groups of beneficial predatory insects the catches of which needed to be reduced. The highest numbers of Coleoptera were caught between 20:00 and 22:00 h and of most Lepidoptera between 02:00 and 04:00 h. The hourly numbers of predatory insects caught by light traps were evenly distributed throughout the night. A model was developed to describe the relationships between the cumulative proportions of insects caught and time of night. The model accurately describes the flight activity of insects that were mainly caught before midnight, after midnight and evenly throughout a night by using different parameters for the three different insect groups. A beneficial-friendly trapping strategy was developed to reduce the numbers of beneficial insects trapped, which was based on differences in the nocturnal flight activity of pests and beneficial insects and validated by a field study in Shandong province. Results show that this trapping strategy reduced the number of beneficial insects caught by 46% and the electricity consumption by 50% compared to the traditional strategy. Thus this strategy is more beneficial-friendly than the traditional trapping strategy for controlling pests.
Highlights
It is traditional in Integrated Pest Management to control insect pests by exploiting their phototactic responses
The 10 most abundant coleopteran pests and 12 most abundant lepidopteran pests in the light trap catches were selected as representatives of coleopteran and lepidopteran pests, respectively
The largest catches of most coleopteran pests were between 20:00 and 22:00 h, and very few caught after midnight (Table 2)
Summary
It is traditional in Integrated Pest Management to control insect pests by exploiting their phototactic responses. There are a variety of light traps that are designed to sample, monitor and/or control vector mosquitoes (Reinert, 1989; Zhong et al, 2003), stored insect pests (Reed et al, 1934; Soderstrom, 1970), forest moths (Thomas & Thomas, 1994; Brehm & Axmacher, 2006) and various agricultural insect pests (Srivastava et al, 1992). As a non-chemical method for insect pest control, light traps have been widely used to control agricultural pests in developing countries such as China (Ma et al, 2009), India (Srivastava et al, 1992) and Brazil (Oliveira et al, 2008). Large numbers of non-target species, especially beneficial insects that play a significant role in pest control, are killed by light traps (Ma et al, 2005, 2009). How to protect beneficial insects when controlling insect pests using light traps becomes an important issue
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
