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Insect traps are vital component of many entomological programs for detection and monitoring of insect populations. We equipped yellow (YC), blue (BC) sticky card (BC) with 530 nm lime green (LED-YC) and 470 nm blue (LED-BC) light-emitting diodes, respectively that increased trap catches of several insect pests. The LED-YC traps caught 1.3, 1.4, 1.8, and 4.8 times more adult greenhouse whitefly Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood), sweetpotato whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) biotype B, cotton aphids Gossypium hirsutum (L.), and fungus gnats Bradysia coprophila (Lintner), respectively, compared with standard YC traps. The LED-YC traps did not catch more Eretmocerus spp. than the standard YC traps. Eretmocerus spp. are important B. tabaci parasitoids used in greenhouse biological control programs. For whitefly control in greenhouse the 530 nm lime green LED equipped plastic cup trap designed by Chu et al. (2003) is the better choice than LED-YC trap because it catches few Eretmocerus spp. and Encarsia spp. whitefly parasitoids released for B. tabaci nymph control. The LED-BC traps caught 2.0-2.5 times more adult western flower thrips Franklinella occidentalis (Pergande) compared with the standard BC traps.
A whitefly trap recently developed by Chu and Henneberry was tested in a cantaloupe field at the University of Arizona Maricopa Agricultural Center in 1995. The trap was compared with a 3 × 5-inch yellow sticky card trap, a commercial dome trap, and the leaf-turn sampling method. Results showed that the new whitefly trap effectively caught adults in cantaloupes. Numbers of adults increased as whitefly adult population densities increased during the season. Numbers of adults caught by the new whitefly trap were comparable to numbers of adults caught with the commercial dome trap and to a lesser extent the counts of adults determined by leaf-turn sampling method. Results with the new trap were not comparable to adults caught with yellow sticky card traps.
Insects in a commercial poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) greenhouse were monitored with yellow sticky card (YC) traps and YC equipped with 530-nm lime green light-emitting diodes (LED-YC) traps from 3 June to 25 Nov. 2002. Pest insects were: dark-winged fungus gnat (Bradysia coprophila), sweet potato whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) biotype B (= B. argentifolii), western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis) and leafhopper (Empoasca sp.). Natural enemies were: minute pirate bug (Orius tristicolor), parasitic wasps (Hymenoptera), and rove beetles (Staphylinidae). Over the 24 weeks of the experiment, LED-YC traps captured more dark-winged fungus gnats, sweet potato whiteflies, leafhoppers, and rove beetles compared with YC traps. Capture of western flower thrips, minute pirate bugs, and parasitic wasps were not significantly increased on the YC traps equipped with LEDs. The results indicate that the LED-YC traps attract three major pest insects in poinsettia greenhouses and do not catch more beneficial, minute pirate bugs and parasitic wasps, but may catch significant number of rove beetles. The results suggest that LED-YC traps may be useful to monitor and reduce pest populations in greenhouses.