Capture effect of yellow sticky traps covered with meshes of different colors and sizes on Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) and nontarget organisms

Management of Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) populations is a key strategy to reduce the transmission of viruses to crops. Yellow sticky traps are widely used tools to monitor and/or reduce B. tabaci populations. Nevertheless, these traps also allow the collection of debris and nontarget organisms including B. tabaci natural enemies. Covering the surface of the traps with a mesh is an alternative to mitigate those unwanted effects. Two field experiments were carried out to determine the color and size effect of the mesh on the capture of B. tabaci and nontarget organisms. The color experiment showed that among the 13 colors evaluated, only the yellow mesh did not reduce statically the number of B. tabaci captured compared with the uncovered traps. On the size experiment, among the three sizes evaluated, no statistical effect on the number of B. tabaci captured was exhibited. For the capture of nontarget organisms, the significative lowest values were showed in the small diamond and hexagon grooves. Those mesh traits were validated with two additional field experiments. The results of this study indicate that yellow sticky traps covered with a yellow mesh reduce the collection of nontarget organisms without affecting the capture of B. tabaci.