Sampling Plan for Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) in Melon Crops

• Published in: The Florida entomologist 2019-03, Vol.102 (1), p.16-23
• Main Authors: Macêdo, Ruan Victor Borges Tavares de, Sarmento, Renato Almeida, Pereira, Poliana Silvestre, Lima, Carlos Henrique Oliveira, Deus, Tânia Lígia Lopes Barbosa de, Ribeiro, Arthur Vieira, Picanço, Marcelo Coutinho
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aggregation; Agricultural economics; Agricultural industry; Agricultural practices; Aleyrodidae; Bemisia tabaci; binomio negativo; Crops; Cucumis melo; Cucumis melo L; Cucurbitaceae; Decision making; Diseases and pests; Entomology; Errors; Farmers; Feasibility studies; Fields; Flowering; Frequency distribution; Fruits; Fruits (Food); Handbooks; Hemiptera; Identification and classification; Integrated pest management; Melons; Methods; negative binomial; Pest control; Pests; Plants (botany); RESEARCH PAPERS; Sampling; Sampling (Statistics); sampling technique; Sampling techniques; sampling unit; toma de decisiones; técnica de muestreo; unidad de muestreo; Whiteflies
• ISSN: 0015-4040; 1938-5102
• DOI: 10.1653/024.102.0103

Melon (Cucumis melo L.; Cucurbitaceae) is one of the 10 most-consumed fruits in the world. The whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) is one of the most important pests in melon crops worldwide. Conventional sampling plans are the starting point to establish decisionmaking systems for integrated pest management (IPM) programs. The purpose of this study was to determine a conventional sampling plan for B. tabaci in melon crops with plants at the vegetative, flowering, and fruiting stages. The best sampling units for B. tabaci were the 5th and 6th most apical leaves of the plant vine. The best sampling technique was direct counting of adult whiteflies. The most appropriate frequency distribution to describe B. tabaci densities in melon fields was the negative binomial. Whiteflies on melon fields with plants at different phenological stages showed a common aggregation parameter (Kcommon = 0.9134). The optimal number of samples from the sampling plan was 72 samples per field with a maximum error of 15% in population determination. The sampling plan determined by this study can be used by farmers because it is a low-cost (US$5.27 per sampling), fast (39 minutes per sampling) and feasible (15% maximum evaluation error). The same sampling plan can be used with melon plants at the vegetative, flowering, and fruiting stages.