Search Results (3)

The western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte) remains one of the most damaging pests of maize across Europe, including Romania. Reliable integrated pest management relies on monitoring systems capable of capturing adult flight activity under field conditions. This study presents a comparative field evaluation of three monitoring approaches: Virgiwit yellow sticky panels (YSP), pheromone-based CSALOMON^® KLP+ traps, and the automated iScout^® digital monitoring system. Monitoring was conducted at weekly intervals over an eight-week period (20 July–15 September 2025) in four maize fields in western Romania. Capture data were analyzed descriptively to assess relative trap performance and to explore associations with selected meteorological variables. KLP+ traps consistently recorded the highest numbers of adults, while YSP traps reproduced the main seasonal flight patterns. The iScout^® system captured fewer individuals but provided continuous temporal information on adult activity. Correlation analyses indicated generally weak and inconsistent relationships between trap captures and short-term weather variables, reflecting the limitations imposed by weekly manual sampling and site-specific variability. Overall, the results highlight the complementary strengths and limitations of manual and automated monitoring tools and support their exploratory use for characterizing seasonal flight activity and temporal population patterns of Diabrotica virgifera virgifera under field conditions. Further multi-year and device-specific validation is required before automated systems can be fully integrated into operational pest management frameworks. Full article

Ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) in the tribe Xyleborini are economically important pests of woody ornamentals, tree nuts, and fruit orchards, including pecans in the United States. Among them, the granulate ambrosia beetle, Xylosandrus crassiusculus (Motschulsky), is the most common species in pecan orchards in Georgia. Various traps, including ethanol-mediated Lindgren multi-funnel traps, panel traps, bottle traps, sticky cards, and ethanol-infused wooden bolts, are used in ambrosia beetle monitoring programs. Trap color and placement height are important factors that increase trap effectiveness. To improve trap effectiveness for ambrosia beetles, we conducted a color and height preference experiment under field conditions using six different colored sticky cards, including black, blue, green, red, transparent, and yellow, placing them at three different heights (15, 60, and 120 cm from ground level). The results show that red and transparent sticky cards consistently captured a higher number of ambrosia beetles, whereas yellow-colored sticky cards consistently captured a lower number of ambrosia beetles compared to all other tested colors of sticky cards. A similar trend was observed with X. crassiusculus in field and laboratory settings. Among the evaluated trap heights, more ambrosia beetles, including X. crassiusculus, were consistently captured in the sticky cards placed at a height of 60 cm from the ground surface. Additionally, we monitored natural infestations of ambrosia beetles in commercial pecan orchards in Georgia and found more damage to pecan trees near the ground surface (45 cm) compared to the upper parts. We also recorded three ambrosia beetle species, X. crassiusculus, the black stem borer, X. germanus (Blandford), and the Southeast Asian ambrosia beetle, Xylosandrus amputatus (Blandford). Among them, X. crassiusculus (90.50%) was the most abundant species in the pecan orchards. Therefore, red and transparent sticky cards placed at a height of 45 to 60 cm could improve the trap efficacy and can be used for monitoring ambrosia beetles in pecan orchards. Full article

Lipoptena fortisetosa, a deer ked native to Japan, has established itself in several European countries and was recently recorded in Italy. This hippoboscid ectoparasite can develop high density populations, causing annoyance to animals and concern regarding the potential risk of transmitting pathogens to humans. No monitoring or control methods for L. fortisetosa have been applied or tested up to now. This research evaluated the possible response of L. fortisetosa winged adults to different colours as the basis for a monitoring and control strategy. In the summer of 2020, a series of six differently coloured sticky panels were randomly set as traps in a wooded area used by deer for resting. The results indicated a clear preference of the deer ked for the blue panels that caught the highest number of flies during the experimental period. Lower numbers of flies were trapped on the red, green, black, and white panels, with the yellow panels recording the fewest captures. The response clearly demonstrates that this species displays a colour preference, and that coloured traps might be useful for monitoring and limiting this biting ectoparasite in natural areas harbouring wildlife and visited by people. Full article