The Insectavac: A High-Clearance, High-Volume Arthropod Vacuuming Platform for Agricultural Ecosystems

Abstract

A high-clearance tractor—the Insectavac—was constructed to facilitate the sampling of arthropods in field crops over large land masses. Mean catch rates varied from 14 to 64%, depending on the species sampled. The Insectavac consistently caught more insects on a per-unit basis than a standard, 38.10-cm sweep-net. Because the Insectavac greatly reduces the hand labor required to sample arthropod populations, large sample sizes can be collected with relatively small increases in labor. The Insectavac lends itself particularly well to sampling of parasites, predators, Lygus spp., adult and 1st- to 3rd-instar bollworms and other easily dislodged arthropods in cotton, and thus facilitiates the quantification of beneficial/prey ratios of this insect complex under field conditions. The Insectavac may work with equal or better precision in other cropping systems, particularly those with upright and compact growing requirements.