Cacopsylla pyri L. (Hom., Psyllidae) and its predators relationship in Italy's Emilia-Romagna region

Sampling techniques for Cacopsylla pyri adults and its predators (Anthocoris nemoralis, Coccinellidae spp. and Chrysopidae spp.) were comparatively studied over autumn-winter 2000 in three pear orchards of Ferrara Province in northern Italy's Emilia-Romagna Region. Bating tray (or frappage), yellow sticky traps and corrugated cardboard traps were employed for insect monitoring while water pan traps were used for the phenological timing of leaf fall. The beating tray provided a more representative sampling method to evaluate the population dynamics and density of C. pyri and its predators than the yellow sticky traps; the corrugated cardboard proved a reliable tool to assess the predator population dynamic in overwintering refuges. Along with climate (temperature) and plant physiological (leaf fall) data, the results reported provide useful information for the scheduling of winter treatments, also in case to control the spread of the mycoplasma-like organism (pear decline) in spring.