Research
Row Cover results for 2002
Trapping
and Row Covers for Cucumber Beetle Management
Additional Methods: The trapping field was surrounded by two concentric rings of traps 50 and 65 feet from the planted area. There were four replications of the row cover and BioYield treatments in each field. Yellow sticky cards placed in each plot were counted and replaced at the same time the traps were counted and emptied, once per week through the end of harvest.
Results: There was no significant effect of the row covers or the BioYield seed treatment on beetle populations or melon yield this year. The effect of the traps on yield was inconsistent. Although the traps appeared to decrease yield at Armstrong, herbicide damage may have been responsible for these lower yields (Table 1). There were fewer wilted plants and striped and spotted beetles in the trapped field than control field at Ames, but the reverse was true in Armstrong (Tables 2 and 3). The herbicide-damaged plants in the control plots at Armstrong may have been less attractive to the cucumber beetles because they were smaller and had fewer blossoms.
Because the effect of the traps on beetle populations in the field was inconsistent, we tried to better understand the effect of the traps on the beetles' behavior. The traps caught more spotted beetles than striped beetles, thus we suspect that the baits and lures may not be attractive enough to the striped beetle.
Mean total weight (marketable + cull), marketable weight, number of marketable melons, and marketable melon weight in a single plot for the traps and control fields at three Iowa locations.
|
Location
|
Field
|
Number |
Marketable |
Number |
Cull |
|
Ames
|
Traps Field
|
1.8a
|
9.2a
|
2.9a
|
9.7a
|
|
|
Control
Field
|
1.9a
|
9.0a
|
175.1b
|
13.5a
|
|
|
LSD
(α = 0.05)
|
-
|
-
|
152.0
|
-
|
|
Armstrong
|
Traps Field
|
0.8a
|
3.7a
|
0.5a
|
1.4 a
|
|
|
Control
Field
|
1.7b
|
7.7b
|
15.2a
|
3.4 b
|
|
|
LSD
(α = 0.05)
|
0.4
|
1.9
|
-
|
0.9
|
|
Muscatine
|
Traps Field
|
3.0
|
16.5
|
8.8
|
24.6
|
|
|
Control
Field
|
2.9
|
17.2
|
6.6
|
21.4
|
|
|
LSD
(α = 0.05)
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Average number of wilted plants per
plot in the trap and control fields at three Iowa locations.
|
|
Ames
|
Armstrong
|
Muscatine
|
|
Control
|
5.2a
|
3.3b
|
9.6
|
|
Trap
|
5.1a
|
6.1a
|
9.4
|
|
LSD*
|
-
|
2.0
|
-
|
Average number of striped and
spotted beetles per sticky card in the trap and control fields at three Iowa
locations.
|
|
Ames
|
Armstrong
|
Muscatine
|
|||
|
|
Striped
|
Spotted
|
Striped
|
Spotted
|
Striped
|
Spotted
|
|
Control
|
25.2a
|
3.0a
|
11.4a
|
5.4a
|
4.0
|
0.7
|
|
Trap
|
5.4b
|
4.2b
|
45.2b
|
5.4a
|
3.6
|
0.8
|
|
LSD*
|
5.5
|
1.5
|
9.2
|
-
|
-
|
-
|