Yellow Traps for Evaluating the Population Levels and Dispersal Patterns of Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae)

Yellow sticky traps were useful to monitor Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) populations in a cotton field. The traps caught more when placed horizontally than vertically, and more when on the ground than when above ground. The trap catches showed fluctuations in population sizes similar to visual counts and D-Vac samples, attesting to the overall reliability of the traps. Trap catches showed that whiteflies within the cottonfield flew near the ground, whereas in the open air they flew >2 m above, and that between 0600 and 0900 hours much of the airborne population landed on the ground, be it cultivated or not. Parasites of whiteflies usually were not caught by our yellow traps.