Adoption of a scanning system to provide rapid and accurate estimates of pest densities in a greenhouse vegetable system

There are several methods for studying pest population fluctuation and dynamics in the field and greenhouse. Among these methods, sticky cards are the most popular. But enumerating insect populations on these cards can be time-consuming, specifically when insect densities are high. We investigated a substitute method of analysing these sticky cards instead of enumerating the insects on them. The DepositScan® software, which is used in analysing droplet sizes of applied pesticides, was used to estimate the coverage percentage of the cards. The efficacy of six different brands of sticky cards in attracting the leafminer, Liriomyza sativae Blanchard 1938, was studied in the greenhouse. The high correlation between estimated coverage percentage and the counted insects on the cards (rp = 0.9153, P < 0.0001), in addition to the similar results of grouping of the treatments, indicated that application of DepositScan® software can save time and be an easy way for obtaining the similar results as enumerating the insects. This method is useful when the target organism is the major species at the studied cropping system, or when the traps are baited with a species-specific pheromone.