Attributes and Placement of Yellow Sticky Traps for Bactericera cockerelli (Hemiptera: Triozidae) in Capsicum annuum Outdoor Production

Yellow traps are used to monitor Bactericera cockerelli Šulc (Hemiptera: Triozidae), but their effectiveness depends on design and placement. Furthermore, information on their use for outdoor-grown peppers (Capsicum annuum L.), is limited. This study was performed in two experiments. In the first, assays were conducted using trap designs with one shape (e.g., circle, diamond, square, ellipse, triangle, and rectangle), two frames (e.g., yellow, black, blue, white, dark green, purple, and red) (e.g., yellow, dark green, clear green and lime green), and two color (e.g., dark green and black) patterns (e.g., small rectangles, large rectangles, horizontal stripes, large rectangle, large vertical stripe, and vertical stripes). Triangular, rectangular, and ellipsoid traps trapped the greatest number of B. cockerelli. Yellow, black, and dark green framed traps had the highest catches. No significant difference was detected among traps with framed yellow and different green tonalities or either pattern assay. In the second experiment, orientation (north, south, east, and west), distance (0, 20, 40, 60 and 80 cm) from the bed center to the inter-bed space, and height (0, 20, 40, 60 and 80 cm from the bed top) assays were performed in C. annuum var. ‘Serrano’ (71 ± 5 cm width and 80 ± 6 cm height) and ‘Caribe’ (59 ± 4 cm width and 64 ± 7 cm height). No significant difference was detected regardless of orientation. With Serrano, traps at 0 to 60 cm aside and 0 to 40 cm height caught the highest numbers of B. cockerelli and, for Caribe, traps at 0 to 40 cm and 0 to 20 cm, respectively. Placement differences could be due to cultivar traits such as width and height. This study provides new data to improve outdoor monitoring programs for B. cockerelli.