Evaluation of light traps for the control of Scarabaeidae adults in potato crops in La Union (Antioquía)

Abstract

The Scarabaeidae in their larval and adult stages cause serious damages that affect the yield of potato, beans, vegetables, flowers, and grasses. This research is pursuing to evaluate five types of light with two different intensities, to determine the night hours in which more catches are found and to find the genera that are more attracted to the light traps. In the field, 20 traps with two intensities were installed, ten traps of 20 w and ten traps of 15 w. Within each of these groups, two traps were prepared with one of the following types of light: day-light, infra-red, white, black, and blue-black. They were evaluated for three months with three readings daily: 00 to 06, 18 to 21, and 21 to 24 hours. The larger catches (37.84% from the total) were obtained between 18 to 21 hours, followed by 31.46% between 21 to 24 hours and 30.68% between 00 to 06 hours. Major catches from the total were also found in the following types of light: blue-black, black, daylight, white and infrared with 40.84%, 33.37%, 11.50%, 11.30% and 2.97%, re­spectively. There was not difference be­tween lights of 15 and 20 w. The genera with the major frequency of catches from the total were: Ancognatha (two species) 54.3%, Serica (39.43%), Cyclocephala (3.22%) and others 2.99%.