The efficacy of yellow sticky trap and D-vac for sampling four wheat pests

Pest monitoring is a key component of integrated pest management program in agricultural ecosystems, so that prior to deciding on the use of pest management practices, appropriate information on pest density should be available. In this study, the efficacy of yellow sticky cards and D-vac method was investigated to determine the most practical method for sampling of some wheat pests including, Oscinella frit L., Chlorops pumilionis Bjerk. (Diptera: Chloropidae), Cephus pygmaeus L. (Hymenoptera: Cephidae) and Psammotettix alienus Dahlb. (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae).This study was conducted at Zarghan region of Fars Province, during 2013 and 2014. Taylor power law was used to determine the spatial distribution of the pests. In order to determine the optimal sample size, the sequential sampling with constant accuracy of 0.2 and Green's method were used. In yellow card sampling method, C. pygmaeus had a clumped distribution and P. alienus, C. pumilionis and O. frit had a random distribution. All four pest species collected with the D-vac method had a random distribution pattern. The results showed that the number of required sampling units decreased with increasing population density of the pests. Whenever the average density of the C. pumilionis, O. frit, C. pygmaeus and P. alienus in each yellow card is one, the number of required samples with a precision level of 0.2 would be 21, 27, 42 and 48, and when the average density of these pests in each unit of the D-vac method is one, the number of required samples would be 19, 13, 33, and 39, respectively. Results showed that based on precision and efficiency considerations, the most practical sampling method for monitoring these four pests is using yellow sticky cards. The results of this study can be useful in integrated pest management programs of these four pests in wheat fields.