A practical aphid trap for field studies

METHODS OF TRAPPING WINGED aphids in the field during studies of the incidence and spread of plant viruses have included sticky board traps, yellow painted open pans of water, and mechanical suction traps. Sticky board traps require the least attention, but collect fewer aphids than the other traps. The suction trap is the most efficient, but requires an electrical power source and is expensive. Although it collects more aphids of certain species which are attracted by yellow, the yellow pan trap has been favored by many researchers for the field survey of aphid vectors of plant viruses because of its overall efficiency in attracting known aphid vectors.