A new addition to the Veg IPM Updates this season is a pheromone/sticky trap monitoring network spanning the major growing areas in Yuma County. The project is designed to measure the activity and movement of adult populations of a number of key pests. The project is being funded by the Arizona Iceberg Lettuce Research Council, and will hopefully provide an indication of when pest activity (e.g., corn earworm moth flights) is increasing based on pheromone / sticky trap captures. The data is not intended to indicate field infestations, as trap data is largely a reflection of adult movement. If nothing else, the data may make PCAs aware of increased pest activity in some areas and encourage intensified scouting in susceptible produce fields. The pests being monitored include: corn earworm, tobacco budworm, beet armyworm, cabbage looper using pheromone traps; aphids, thrips and whiteflies using yellow sticky traps. A total of 8 trapping locations have been established in the following areas (approximate location):

1. Roll – 38E and Co. 5th St.
2. Wellton - 28E and Co. 10th St.
3. Dome – 18E and Co. 6th St.
4. S. Gila – Hwy 95 and Ave 10 E
5. N. Gila –Laguna Dam Rd and Co. 3rd St.
6. YAC – Somerton Ave and Co. 8th St.
7. YV mid – Ave C1/2 and Co. 15th St.
8. YV south – Ave H and Co. 19th St.

Traps will be checked weekly and data will be made available in the bi-weekly Veg IPM updates. If a PCA or grower is interested in weekly counts, those can be made available by contacting us. Below are the results of our first week of pheromone trapping which began on Sep 7th. Also included are whitefly and thrips counts from a few local areas initiated thus far.