Evaluation of a Tractor-Propelled Vacuum Device for Management of Tarnished Plant Bug (Heteroptera: Miridae) Populations in Strawberry Plantations

In 1990 and 1991 the Biovac, a tractor-propelled vacuum device, was tested to control tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois), populations in a strawberry (‘Bounty’) plantation located at Ste-Anne de la Perade, Quebec, Canada. Two treatments were made in a complete randomized design comprising four replicates:(1) Biovac treatments and (2) control plots (water only). Tarnished plant bug populations were assessed weekly by the saucer pot method. Treatments were done when tarnished plant bug populations exceeded 12 nymphs + adults per 100 taps in the four replicates. Tarnished plant bug populations exceeded the action thresholds six and nine times in 1990 and 1991, respectively. After vacuum treatments, significant tarnished plant bug population reductions occurred 7 times out of 15. On three occasions, populations levels were reduced, but not significantly. Failures occurred 5 times out of 15occasions. There were no significant differences in the percentage of berries attacked by the tarnished plant bug. The use of vacuum devices is discussed in an integrated pest management context.