Introduction
- In Situ Counts:
- With this method, large and mostly conspicuous insects are viewed in the habitat and counts are recorded.
- Orchard and forest pests are frequently sampled by counting numbers/shoots/branches.
- Similarly, agronomic crop pests may be counted as numbers/leaves, stems or reproductive structures.
- Knockdown:
- It is closely related to in situ counting, but in this case, the insects are removed from the habitat by jarring, chemicals, or heating and then counted.
- Jarring is probably the most common method of knockdown from plants.
- The jarring approach is particularly useful with insects like adult weevils and many beetles that play dead when disturbed.
- For this purpose, some of the chemicals like turpentine vapours (for thrips), vapours of methyl isobutyl ketones (for aphids) and pyrethrum may be used.
- Against weevils, heating through the berless funnel and for mite’s special brushing machine and washing insects from plants and plant parts with soap, alcohol, or other solutions is done.
- Netting:
- It is adaptable to sampling a vast array of agricultural pest and their natural enemies.
- The most common aerial net is a lightweight, hand held net that is swept through the air to capture an insect.
- Trapping:
- Insects can be trapped by different techniques, however, until recent past, sex pheromones, sticky traps, rubber septa, light traps, water traps and mechanical trapping devices such as funnel traps are widely accepted tools.