Elsevier

Crop Protection

Volume 47, May 2013, Pages 74-84
Crop Protection

Review
Yellow sticky traps for decision-making in whitefly management: What has been achieved?

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cropro.2013.01.009Get rights and content

Abstract

Yellow sticky traps (YSTs) are a key component of IPM programmes for several greenhouse pests. The development of YST-based decision-making tools, e.g. sampling protocols and economic thresholds (ETs), however, has been limited. This review assesses to what extent YST-counts comply with the four criteria of effective sampling (reliability, representativeness, relevance and practicality) as described by Binns et al. (2000) in an attempt to understand the feasibility of designing YST-based decision-making tools for managing whiteflies in greenhouse crops, particularly tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) and cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.). Many factors are known to affect whitefly flight behaviour and thus, trap catches. The possibility of manipulating such factors to improve YST efficiency and reliability or of interpreting whitefly catches in YSTs with automated tools is discussed. A few studies have shown the correlation between trap and direct visual pest counts from plants. These studies are discussed in the context of whiteflies and trap densities to enhance the representativeness of sampling with YSTs. Relevance implies that the results of sampling reflect crop loss to a sufficient degree. Only few YSTs-based action thresholds have been suggested in the literature, particularly for use with chemical control. There are a number of approaches and technological innovations that can improve the practicality of YSTs by decreasing the effort and time associated with counting insects, a method to facilitate the identification of species in mixed populations on the trap, and sampling methods such as sequential sampling for calculating appropriate sample size, which have been already put in practice to develop YSTs-based sampling protocols. Knowledge gaps are identified and discussed, and a route map for further research to advance YSTs as a decision-making tool is outlined, with geostatistical methods as the recommended approach for further increasing the usefulness of YSTs-based decision-making.

Highlights

► Yellow sticky traps (YST) were compared with direct monitoring methods of whiteflies. ► YST-based economic thresholds for whiteflies in cucumber and tomato were deemed possible. ► Required research for improving YSTs as a whitefly monitoring tool is presented.

Introduction

The fact that many insects show preference to particular light wavelengths has lead entomologists and researchers involved in plant protection to develop monitoring tools and control strategies against many insect pests exploiting this behaviour. One good example of such an approach is the use of coloured traps. Yellow sticky traps (YSTs) in particular have been a subject of research for many decades, and incorporated in management programmes of various pests such as whiteflies, thrips, leaf mining flies, shore flies and fungus gnats in a number of crops. In greenhouses, they have become a key component of IPM programmes of several greenhouse pests (Steiner et al., 1999; Kaas, 2005; Park et al., 2011a). YSTs serve as a tool for early detection, identification of hotspots as well as for estimating relative abundance and monitoring dispersal activity of adult whiteflies, including those occurring in greenhouses, namely Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood) and Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Gillespie and Quiring, 1992; Heinz et al., 1992; Naranjo et al., 1995). In addition, YSTs have the potential of suppressing adult populations alone or in combination with other control strategies such as biological control (Yano, 1987a; Gu et al., 2008 and references therein) or trap crops (Moreau, 2010; Moreau and Isman, 2011).

The goal of using traps for insect monitoring is to predict insect densities that cause crop damage or yield reduction or commodity losses so that timely control actions can be taken. Pest densities are monitored indirectly from the crop, using trap catches as an indication of pest density on the plant. Therefore, determining the relationship between trap catches of the pest with its numbers in the crop and related yield losses are critical to make correct control decisions. In spite of the fact that YSTs have been widely used with several advantages for growers such as low cost and low training demands, the development of decision-making tools based on YSTs (e.g. sampling protocols and economic thresholds (ET)) has been rather limited. Nevertheless, in some greenhouses, whitefly control decisions are commonly guided by adult densities on traps (Kaas, 2005).

The evaluation of sampling techniques (e.g. precision and efficiency) should be one of the first steps towards the development of sustainable sampling plans (Buntin, 1994). In spite of this, only a limited number of studies have compared YSTs (or other colour sticky traps) with other sampling techniques in different pest/crop systems (Table 1). YSTs have been regarded by some as a poor and inconsistent tool for estimating pest densities on plants, and therefore, not suitable for decision-making purposes in field conditions (Palumbo et al., 1995; Naranjo et al., 1995, 2010). According to Ekbom and Rumei (1990), however, YSTs can be considered in greenhouses as one of the most efficient sampling techniques, and they should be very useful as decision-making tools, once their optimal placement sites are determined for a given species and crop. It is possible that in greenhouse environments, YSTs are a more powerful tool than in the field for decision-making purposes, either alone or in combination with other techniques. There are several encouraging studies, especially for whiteflies, suggesting the potential use of YSTs in greenhouse conditions (Gillespie and Quiring, 1987; Yano, 1987b; Kim et al., 2001; Park et al., 2011a), and further development of this method holds promise.

This review aims to clarify the potential of YSTs as a monitoring tool, and the feasibility of designing YST-based sampling protocols for the purpose of decision-making for pest management actions. The review's logic is guided by assessing to what extent YST insect-counts comply with the four criteria of effective sampling of reliability, representativeness, relevance and practicality as described by Binns et al. (2000). Based on these criteria, we identify gaps of knowledge in the effective use of YSTs as decision-making tools that deserve further investigation. The review focuses on whiteflies and greenhouse vegetables, particularly tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) and cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) in both seasonal and year-round production systems practiced in Northern latitudes, as these are the target crops of our whitefly management studies in the greenhouse cluster of Finnish Ostrobothnia (Vänninen et al., 2011; Vänninen, 2012). However, examples from studies of other systems are also included whenever feasible.

Section snippets

Reliability of yellow sticky traps

According to Binns et al. (2000), reliability assumes that the results are not influenced by the person collecting the data, or by exogenous, uncontrolled variables such as weather or possible diurnal behaviour of the pest. Because YSTs rely on the behavioural responses of whiteflies, many physiological characteristics, environmental conditions as well as intra- and interspecific biotic interactions occurring in the greenhouse can affect the number of whiteflies ending up on the traps. In

Future research

YSTs were introduced as a monitoring tool in the 1980s and are now used for several flying pest species in field and greenhouse crops. Sticky traps are available and sold commercially in all parts of the world, but despite that, no explicit data are available on the quantitative extent of their use. There are also qualitative differences in their use, i.e. in some firms systematic data are collected from monitoring, whereas in others the traps are checked irregularly without doing a systematic

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank to Dr. Les Shipp from the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada for critically reading the manuscript. We would like to thank to Dr. Kwang-Ho Kim and Dr. Taek-Joon Kang from the Rural Development Administration, South Korea for their assistance in translating the Korean literature, and Ms Peng Luo for translating the key Chinese papers. The Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is acknowledged for financial support. D.M.P.Z. is currently supported by the CNPq Process

References (115)

  • C. Bellehumeur et al.

    Multiscale sources of variation in ecological variables: modeling spatial dispersion, elaborating sampling designs

    Landscape Ecol.

    (1998)
  • T.S. Bellows et al.

    Patterns in diel flight activity of Bemisia tabaci (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) in cropping systems in southern California

    Environ. Entomol.

    (1988)
  • M.J. Berlinger

    A yellow sticky trap for whiteflies: Trialeurodes vaporariorum and Bemisia tabaci (Aleyrodidae)

    Entomol. Exp. Appl.

    (1980)
  • Biffi Urteaga, A., 2009. Development of an Autonomous Flying Insect Scouting System for Greenhouse Environments. M.Sc....
  • M.R. Binns et al.

    Sampling and Monitoring in Crop Protection

    (2000)
  • J.L. Blackmer et al.

    Environmental and physiological factors influencing phototactic flight of Bemisia tabaci

    Physiol. Entomol.

    (1993)
  • J.L. Blackmer et al.

    Behavioral, morphological, and physical traits associated with migratory Bemisia tabaci (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae)

    J. Insect Behav.

    (1995)
  • P.M. Bleeker et al.

    The role of specific tomato volatiles in tomato-whitefly interaction

    Plant Physiol.

    (2009)
  • G.D. Buntin

    Developing a primary sampling program

  • D.N. Byrne et al.

    Similarity in flight activity rhythms in coexisting species of Aleyrodidae, Bemisia tabaci and Trialeurodes abutilonea

    Entomol. Exp. Appl.

    (1987)
  • D.N. Byrne et al.

    Impact of trap design and placement when monitoring for the bandedwinged whitefly and the sweetpotato whitefly (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae)

    Environ. Entomol.

    (1986)
  • J.G. Campbell

    Insect Attractants and Their Methods of Use in Insect Control

    (2010)
  • C. Casey et al.

    IPM program successful in California greenhouse cut roses

    Calif. Agric.

    (2007)
  • S.J. Castle et al.

    Comparison of sampling methods for determining relative densities of Homalodisca vitripennis (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) on citrus

    J. Econ. Entomol.

    (2008)
  • T.Y. Chen et al.

    Monitoring and trapping insects on poinsettia with yellow sticky card traps equipped with light-emitting diodes

    Horttechnology

    (2004)
  • C. Chu et al.

    Response of Bemisia argentifolii (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) adults to white fluorescent and incandescent light in laboratory studies

    Southwest. Entomol.

    (1998)
  • C.C. Chu et al.

    Use of CC traps with different trap base colors for silverleaf whiteflies (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae), thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), and leafhoppers (Homoptera: Cicadellidae)

    J. Econ. Entomol.

    (2000)
  • R.A. Cloyd

    Western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis) management on ornamental crops grown in greenhouses: have we reached an impasse?

    Pest Technol.

    (2009)
  • P.E. Coombe

    Wavelength specific behaviour of the whitefly Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae)

    J. Comp. Physiol.

    (1981)
  • T.A. De Gooyer et al.

    Evaluation of grower-oriented sampling techniques and proposal of a management program for potato leafhopper (Homoptera: Cicadellidae) in alfalfa

    J. Econ. Entomol.

    (1998)
  • J.A.F. Diniz-Filho et al.

    Spatial autocorrelation and red herrings in geographical ecology

    Glob. Ecol. Biogeogr.

    (2003)
  • E. Durmusoglu et al.

    Efficiency of different hue yellow sticky traps to whitefly under greenhouse

    Turk. Entomol. Dergisi-Turk. J. Entomol.

    (2009)
  • B.S. Ekbom et al.

    Whitefly sampling techniques

  • M.S. El-Helaly et al.

    Phototaxis of the adult whitefly, Bemisia tabaci Gennadius to the visible light. II. Effects of both light intensity and sex of the whitefly adults on the insect's response to different wavelengths of light spectrum

    Acta Phytopathol. Acad. Sci. Hung.

    (1981)
  • S.J. Fleischer et al.

    Sampling in precision IPM: when the objective is a map

    Phytopathology

    (1999)
  • G.N. Foster et al.

    Initial density of glasshouse whitefly (Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood), Hemiptera) in relation to the success of suppression by Encarsia formosa Gahan (Hymenoptera) on glasshouse tomatoes

    Hortic. Res.

    (1978)
  • D. Gerling et al.

    Yellow traps for evaluating the population levels and dispersal patterns of Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae)

    Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am.

    (1984)
  • D.R. Gillespie et al.

    Yellow sticky traps for detecting and monitoring greenhouse whitefly (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) adults on greenhouse tomato crops

    J. Econ. Entomol.

    (1987)
  • D.R. Gillespie et al.

    Flight behavior of the greenhouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood) (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae), in relation to yellow sticky traps

    Can. Entomol.

    (1992)
  • R. Górski

    Effectiveness of natural essential oils in the monitoring of greenhouse whitefly (Trialeurodes vaporariorum Westwood)

    Folia Hortic.

    (2004)
  • X. Gu et al.

    Population suppression of Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) using yellow sticky traps and Eretmocerus nr. rajasthanicus (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) on tomato plants in greenhouses

    Insect Sci.

    (2008)
  • M.R. Gusmão et al.

    Economic injury level and sequential sampling plan for Bemisia tabaci in outdoor tomato

    J. Appl. Entomol.

    (2006)
  • D.G. Hall et al.

    Sticky trap and stem-tap sampling protocols for the Asian citrus psyllid (Hemiptera: Psyllidae)

    J. Econ. Entomol.

    (2010)
  • A.W. Hartstack et al.

    Determination of trap spacings required to control an insect population

    J. Econ. Entomol.

    (1971)
  • H. Hayashi

    Ovary development and migratory flight of the greenhouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood) (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae)

    Bull. Hiroshima Prefect. Agric. Res. Cent.

    (2001)
  • K.M. Heinz et al.

    Time-efficient use of yellow sticky traps in monitoring insect populations

    J. Econ. Entomol.

    (1992)
  • C.J. Hoffman et al.

    Effects of temperature and photoperiod upon adult eclosion of the sweetpotato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci

    Entomol. Exp. Appl.

    (1986)
  • M.L. Hou et al.

    Trap catches and control efficiency of Bemisia tabaci (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) adults in greenhouse by yellow sticky traps

    Sci. Agric. Sin.

    (2006)
  • M.L. Hou et al.

    Distribution and daily activities of Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) adults within solar greenhouse

    Acta Ecol. Sin.

    (2006)
  • A.B. Idris et al.

    Effectiveness of sticky trap designs and colours in trapping alate whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae)

    Pertan. J. Trop. Agric. Sci.

    (2012)
  • Cited by (0)

    View full text