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ARS Home » Plains Area » Sidney, Montana » Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory » Pest Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #104707
Title: Response of Trichogramma egg parasitoids to colored sticky traps

Author
item ROMEIS, J - ICRISAT
item Shanower, Thomas
item ZEBITZ, C - UNIV OF HOHENHEIM

Submitted to: BioControl
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/2/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: Romeis, J., Shanower, T.G., Zebitz, C.P. 1998. Response of Trichogramma egg parasitoids to colored sticky traps. Biocontrol. 43(1): 17-27. DOI: 10.1023/A:1009905722193.

Interpretive Summary: The response of Trichogramma egg parasites to different colored sticky trap was evaluated in the field. More females were found on white and green trap than on the other colors tested. Yellow was the least preferred color for females. Interestingly, males preferred yellow over all other colors followed by green and clear. It is unclear why male and female color preferences are different. Male trichogramma wasps live significantly shorter time than females. This is part of the reason why more females (85% of the total) were caught than males.

Technical Abstract: The response of Trichogramma spp. egg parasitoids to colored sticky traps was evaluated in the field during two seasons (1995/1996, 1996/1997). Trap consisted of a glass tub coated with Bird-Tanglefoot into which colored paper was inserted or clear traps without paper. Colors tested were white, green, blue, yellow, and red in the first season and white, green, yellow, and black in the second season. The proportion of both female and male parasitoids actively move between plants and are not solely carried along passively by wind. White was the color most preferred over black but was less attractive than green. Visual cues may be used by Trichogramma spp. during the habitat location process. The color preference of male Trichogramma spp. differed significantly from females with yellow and green being more attractive than white. For all colors, more female Trichogramma spp. were caught on the sticky traps (85% of all wasps caught), indicting a alower activity level and/or shorter lifespan for males. The use of white cylindrical sticky traps for monitoring Trichogramma spp. populations in th field is recommended.