Counting adults on a yellow sticky trap is useful for monitoring the tea Spiny Whitefly, aleurocanthus camelliae (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), at the early invasion stage

Abstract

The invasive tea spiny whitefly, Aleurocanthus camelliae Kanmiya and Kasai, is now spreading throughout tea plantations in Japan. Monitoring in pre-invasion areas is necessary for systematic control this species at the early invasion stage. In this study, two monitoring methods were examined at tea plantations near the time of first invasion in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. The first method was to detect adults captured on a yellow sticky trap, and the second was to detect nymphs by sampling tea leaves. A positive correlation was observed between the number of adults on a trap (relative density) and estimated nymph density. In many locations where nymphs were not detected, adults were captured by the traps. Additionally, more individuals were detected by the traps than by searching tea leaves. This study shows that counting adults on a yellow sticky trap is an efficient method for detecting this species at a low density and is therefore useful for monitoring at the early invasion stage.