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Title: IMPROVING THE EFFICACY OF WHITEFLY TRAPS WITH LIGHT-EMITTING DIODE TECHNOLOGY

Author
item Chu, Chang Chi
item CHEN, TIAN-YE - U OF AZ MARICOPA
item Simmons, Alvin
item Alexander, Patrick
item Henneberry, Thomas

Submitted to: European Whitefly Symposium Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/5/2004
Publication Date: 10/5/2004
Citation: Chu, C., Chen, T., Simmons, A.M., Alexander, P.J., Henneberry, T.J. 2004. Improving the efficacy of whitefly traps with light-emitting diode technology. European Whitefly Symposium Proceedings, p 41.

Interpretive Summary: LED lights have been used widely in utilities as pilot lights. We placed lime green LED clamps on yellow cards that were commonly used in greenhouses. Results showed that they increased trap catches of greenhouse whitefly, sweetpotato whitefly, cotton aphids, and fungus gnats, but not whitefly parasites. The CC traps equipped with lime green LED lights also caught more whiteflies but not more whitefly parasites. Thus the LED-CC traps may be used in greenhouses where white parasites were used for control of white nymphs.

Technical Abstract: We equipped yellow sticky card traps and plastic cup whitefly traps with 530 nm lime green light-emitting diodes (LED-YC and LED-PC traps, respectively) to investigate the potential for increasing trap efficacies of whitefly species for capturing whiteflies and other insects. More adult greenhouse whiteflies Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood), sweetpotato whiteflies (SPW), Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) biotype B (= B. argentifolii), cotton aphids Aphis gossypii (Glover), and fungus gnats Bradysia coprophila (Lintner) were caught on LED-YC traps compared with YC traps alone in greenhouse cage studies with shell beans, Phaseolus vulgaris (L.) var. humilis, or cotton, Gossypium hirsutum (L.) cv. Deltapine 5415. The LED-YC traps did not catch more thrips, Franklinella occidentalis (Pergrande), compared with YC traps alone in commercial greenhouses. LED-PC traps also caught more adult greenhouse whiteflies and SPW compared with the PC traps alone or with white LEDs in a laboratory test. Whitefly parasites, Ertmocerus eremicus (Rose and Zolnerowich), captures were not significantly different in LED-YC traps compared with YC traps alone. The LED-PC traps also caught fewer E. eremicus and Encarsia formosa (Gahan) whitefly parasitoids compared with YC traps alone in greenhouse tests. The results demonstrate the potential of using LED-YC traps in greenhouses for insect detection, monitoring, and control. The LED-PC traps appear to be complimentary and compatible for use in combination with releases of Eretmocerus or Encarsia for whitefly nymph control in greenhouses.