ABSTRACT

Field studies were initiated in 2001 to determine the feasibility of using sticky or malaise traps to detect cotton fleahopper, Pseudatomoscelis seriatus (Reuter), movement into cotton. Yellow and white sticky traps were positioned at three heights (ground level, 1 and 2 m above the soil surface) on the field border, and immediately above the plant canopy on the 30th row. Malaise traps were placed only on the field border. Despite the use of kill strips, entrances to malaise capture containers were frequently blocked by large insects or spider webs, and predation on captured fleahoppers was commonly observed. Consequently, counts of captured fleahoppers in each trap were low (= 5) and many counts were zeros. Based on these observations, the malaise traps used have little potential for monitoring cotton fleahopper movement into cotton. In contrast, commercially available sticky traps show considerable promise for this use. Border sticky traps set at ground level tended to capture more cotton fleahoppers than border traps set at the other heights, but captured significantly fewer fleahoppers than sticky traps placed inside the field. Yellow traps generally captured more fleahoppers than white traps for in-field and border traps. Based solely on the magnitude of trap captures, yellow sticky traps maintained just above the crop canopy in the field interior exhibited the greatest potential for monitoring fleahopper movement into cotton. Should field operations or trap access restrict trap placement to field borders, yellow traps placed at ground level would provide the best alternative to in-field traps. Our preliminary results identify several trapping parameters (e.g, trap placement and color) that should be considered in the development of a trap-based fleahopper monitoring system and suggest continued investigations are warranted.