The I-SPy Insect IndicatorTM: development of an insect monitoring trap for use on flat surfaces in the cereal and food trades, and potential applications.

Abstract

AbstractMonitoring insects in stored products is essential for the efficient application of control strategies, be they chemical, physical, biological or integrated. The Pitfall Cone (PC) trap was invented and developed in the UK to monitor crawling insect pests within stored grain. The PC trap has proven to be an effective insect monitor for the primary pests of stored grain in the United Kingdom, including Sitophilus granarius (the grain weevil), Oryzaephilus surinamensis (the saw-toothed grain beetle) and Cryptolestes ferrugineus (the rust-red grain beetle). The CSL I-SPy Insect Indicator (PC Floor Trap) is a further development of the PC trap for use on flat surfaces in food and stored commodity premises. It does not rely on a sticky surface to trap insects, allowing it to be effective even in dusty environments such as flour mills. In a previous laboratory comparison with four other insect monitoring devices, the CSL I-SPy Insect Indicator has proved to be effective at trapping all six insect pest species tested. The work reported here investigates the effectiveness of this new trap, with an improved attractant lure, against the same six species and compares it with another recently introduced design, the DOME trap.