Independent mark-release-recapture studies in the US and in Europe demonstrate that although the Colorado potato beetle has the capability for flight of up to a few kilometers, the majority of any dispersing beetles tend to stop within 10-20 meters of encountering the edge of a potato field. Much of this dispersal appears to be from walking when newly planted fields are adjacent to fields from a previous year, especially in the spring when temperatures are still cool. Dale Moyer has exploited this on Long Island with "trench traps". Trap cropping also seemed possible, and a trial was conducted using early-planted pre-sprouted potatoes as a trap that would emerge from the ground before the main crop. The trap did collect large numbers of beetles, which were then killed with an insecticide application, but planting of a crop sufficiently early from the main crop was difficult to manage. Border rows treated with imidacloprid may generate many of the advantages of trap cropping. Potato trap crops could also have useful roles in protecting more valuable stands of eggplant and tomatoes.
Species 1: Coleoptera Chrysomelidae Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Colorado potato beetle)
Keywords: tomato, eggplant
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