Monitoring the Migration of Pest Species Over Delaware from Suction Trap Data

• Jessica Plumitallo, Insect Ecology and Conservation, University of Delaware

• Michael Crossley, Entomology and Wildlife Ecology, University of Delaware

Each year, 20 – 40% of global crops are lost to agricultural pests. This makes it crucial to monitor pests that are in an area so preventative measures can be taken. In order to track migrating insects, suction traps have been used since the 1950s. However, in the United States, suction traps have previously been utilized only on the West Coast and the Midwest. This year, we introduced a suction trap to the East Coast, where the species composition of insects dispersing through the airstream is uncertain. Using weekly capture data, we examined numbers of aphids, thrips, whiteflies, and leafhoppers dispersing between May-August. Aphids were identified at species-level to compare numbers of pest and non-pest species crossing over Delaware. We anticipate this new suction trap becoming a resource to provide early warning of pest migrations to growers of a variety of crops in the Delmarva peninsula.