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Visual modelling can optimise the appearance and capture efficiency of sticky traps used to manage insect pests

Alex Dearden, Martyn Wood, Henry Frend, Tariq Butt Orcid Logo, William Allen Orcid Logo, ALEXANDER DEARDEN

Journal of Pest Science, Volume: 96, Issue: 2

Swansea University Authors: Alex Dearden, Martyn Wood, Henry Frend, Tariq Butt Orcid Logo, William Allen Orcid Logo, ALEXANDER DEARDEN

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Abstract

Sticky traps are one of the most important tools for monitoring and mass trapping of insect pests. Their effectiveness depends on attracting and capturing target pests efficiently. Trap colour strongly affects capture rates, but currently a principled approach to identifying optimal trap colour for...

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Published in: Journal of Pest Science
ISSN: 1612-4758 1612-4766
Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2023
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa62758
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Abstract: Sticky traps are one of the most important tools for monitoring and mass trapping of insect pests. Their effectiveness depends on attracting and capturing target pests efficiently. Trap colour strongly affects capture rates, but currently a principled approach to identifying optimal trap colour for a given pest and growing context is lacking. Here we propose that modelling pest colour vision enables identification of trap colours that optimise pest capture rates. We test this novel approach to trap design in field trials on Western flower thrips (WFT) Frankiniella occidentalis, an economically damaging pest of agriculture and horticulture worldwide. Prior studies have reported that WFT prefer blue and yellow sticky traps, aligning with recent evidence that WFT have trichromatic colour vision with peak sensitivities in the UV, blue and green portion of the visual spectrum and a blue-green colour opponent mechanism. Therefore, we hypothesised that a shade of blue that maximally stimulates the blue photoreceptor whilst minimally stimulating the green photoreceptor would improve sticky trap capture rates, while a shade of blue that decreased the opponent response would reduce capture rates. In three field experiments, we found strong support for this hypothesis: the optimised blue colour captured 1.3–2.6  times  more WFT than current commercial trap colours. Our results also demonstrated that visual modelling can identify optimally contrasting colours for two-colour traps that further improve capture rates. This study provides a novel and principled approach to the design of visual traps that could be extended to other pest management contexts.
College: Faculty of Science and Engineering
Funders: The authors would like to thank W. B. Chambers and E. C. Drummond for providing polytunnels, support and information throughout the studies. We would also like to thank Agrisense Ltd. and Razbio Ltd. for providing blue sticky traps and Thrips Charm lures, respectively. Thank you also Jem Print for facilitating our colour swatch and trap production requirements throughout our long association.
Issue: 2