Pheromone Lure and Trap Color Affects Bycatch in Agricultural Landscapes of Utah

Abstract

Aerial traps, using combinations of color and attractive lures, are a critical tool for detecting and managing insect pest populations. Yet, despite improvements in trap efficacy, collection of nontarget species ("bycatch") plagues many insect pest surveys. Bycatch can influence survey effectiveness by reducing the available space for target species and increasing trap screening time, especially in areas where thousands of insects are captured as bycatch in a given season. Additionally, bycatch may negatively impact local nontarget insect populations, including beneficial predators and pollinators. Here, we tested the effect of pheromone lures on bycatch rates of Coccinellidae (Coleoptera), Apoidea (Hymenoptera), and nontarget Lepidoptera. Multicolored (primarily yellow and white) bucket traps containing a pheromone lure for capturing one of three survey target species, Spodoptera litura (F.), S. littoralis (Boisduval), or Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner), were placed in alfalfa and corn fields, and compared to multicolored traps without a pheromone lure. All-green traps with and without H. armigera lures were employed in a parallel study investigating the effect of lure and trap color on bycatch. Over 2,600 Coccinellidae representing seven species, nearly 6,400 bees in 57 species, and >9,000 nontarget moths in 17 genera were captured across 180 traps and seven temporal sampling events. Significant effects of lure and color were observed for multiple taxa. In general, nontarget insects were attracted to the H. armigera lure and multicolored trap, but further studies of trap color and pheromone lure specificity are needed to better understand these interactions and to minimize nontarget captures.

Comparison of pheromone trap design and lures for Spodoptera frugiperda in Togo and genetic characterization of moths caught

“…In Florida, non-target moths rarely comprise more than 10% of the total captures (RL Meagher, unpubl. Additional screening or handling of trap samples and possible misidentification of target species decreases the efficiency and value for the monitoring system (Weber & Ferro, 1991;Guerrero et al, 2014;Spears et al, 2016). Traps baited with two-component lures (Z9-14:Ac and Z7-12:Ac) had low L. phragmatidicola captures (0.5-1.4%) but also captured fewer S. frugiperda (Fleischer et al, 2005).…”

A novel, easy method for estimating pheromone trap attraction range: application to the pine sawyer beetle Monochamus galloprovincialis

“…When based on the combination of synthetic sex pheromone and effective trap design, it enables the detection of the presence of the target species, even at a very low population density. Based on highly specific attractants, it minimizes bycatch (Spears et al ., ), thus reducing the impact on local insect biodiversity. Pheromone traps are also frequently used in the early warning detection of invasive species (Brockerhoff et al ., ).…”

Spatial Displacement of a Lure Component Can Reduce Catches of Two Nontarget Species During Spring Monitoring of Southern Pine Beetle

“…These include altering the types or enantiomeric blends of chemicals used ( Raffa and Klepzig 1989 , Aukema et al 2000 , Panzavolta et al 2014 ), and altering the design of traps (e.g., adding a mesh screen to prevent entry) to restrict the size of insects that can enter ( Ross and Daterman 1998 , Martín et al 2013 ). Use of specific trap colors has been shown effective in lowering natural enemy and pollinator trap catches ( Weber et al 2005 , Mori and Evenden 2013 , Spears et al 2016 ).…”