Abstract
Sampling for larvae and adults of Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say), was done in commercial potato, Solanum tuberosum L., fields on the Eastern Shore of Virginia in 1987 and 1988 to evaluate sampling precision and cost associated with a single potato stem versus two- to five-stem cluster sample units. Relative net precision values indicated that five-stem cluster samples were the most cost efficient for all population densities of Colorado potato beetle larvae and adults. When plants attain maximum vegetative growth, cluster samples of three or four stems may be used to save time with only a small sacrifice in sampling precision compared with five-stem cluster samples. Additional sampling was done in 1987 to compare Colorado potato beetle counts from upper plant foliage with whole-plant counts to determine whether a visual examination of the top plant canopy could be used to estimate beetle density on the whole plant. Coefficient of determination values generated from regression analyses of top-foliage beetle counts on whole-plant counts were higher for adults than for large larvae. However, a large proportion of the total variation in whole-plant counts was explained by the fitted regressions for both life stages.
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