A non-sticky trap for tarnished plant bug (Heteroptera: Miridae)

A simple trap that does not require the use of sticky material to capture tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois), is described. The 28 x 11 cm (diam) cylindrical trap was constructed by cutting and joining sections from two 2-L clear plastic soft drink bottles and gluing screened entrance cones from commercially-available boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis Boheman) traps in each end. Five sticky trap designs were tested, and the sticky trap that captured the most plant bugs was compared to the non-sticky trap. With virgin females plus green bean pods (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) as bait, the non-sticky traps captured only males, but females comprised 11% of the capture on the sticky traps. Females comprised 40% of the capture on sticky traps baited with green bean pods only. Opaque traps shaped like the clear traps were inferior to the clear traps. The non-sticky trap should facilitate testing of potential components of the pheromone of tarnished plant bug, and perhaps that of L. hesperus Knight. The combination of a synthetic plant bug pheromone and a non-sticky trap may lead to a practical method of monitoring or estimating populations.