Sequential sampling plans for classifying Lasioderma serricorne (F.) (Coleoptera: Anobiidae) status in a cigarette factory on the Cape Verde islands

Lasioderma serricorne (F.) (Coleoptera: Anobiidae) is the most serious pest in stored tobacco on the Cape Verde islands. The development of appropriate sampling plans is needed for cost-effective control of stored-product insect pests. Sequential sampling plans for classifying pest status help the manager to decide whether or not to implement control measures, with a minimum risk of error using few sampling units. From September 1998 to February 2001, a sampling plan, using sex pheromone traps, was implemented in the cigarette factory in Cape Verde, to assist management decision-making based on an empirical threshold of 10 insects/week/trap and to make inferences about the pest population, such as its density and spatial pattern. From the results obtained a sequential sampling plan was developed for classifying the pest status of L. serricorne based on complete counts from insects caught in the pheromone traps. Two sequential sampling techniques were used: the sequential probability ratio test (SPRT), as ...