Argentina launches monitoring system for major pests

By Leonardo Gottems, Reporter for AgroPages

The Argentine Association for the Professional Protection of Extensive Crops (AAPPCE) launched the Pheromone Trap Network (TDF), a tool for anticipating the presence of major pests.

The Pheromone Trap Network (TDF Network) is a data collection system covering Lepidoptera, which monitors productive centers in Argentina. Its objective is to detect and identify trends, in advance, regarding critical incidences of pest pressure on extensive crops.

Information is managed through protocols developed by the AAPPCE’s partners involved in the network. “Some of these protocols are also backed up by CONICET specialists,” the association stated.

The TDF Network features specific pheromone traps for Fall armyworm, Southern armyworm moth, South American bollworm and Soybean looper moth.

It should be noted that the knowledge generated under the framework of the network is free and available to the public, so producers and consultants can make appropriate decisions regarding key pests.

The AAPPCE explained that pheromone traps are an innovative tool for attracting adult male Lepidoptera moths and are made up of a diffuser and a funnel. The diffuser contains a pheromone that emits an odor, which acts as a sexual signal that lures moths of a specific species into the trap, making it possible to easily identify and count adults. 

The funnels encourage moths to enter the trap and prevent them from escaping, which facilitates capture, retention and subsequent quantification.

Although statistics on the adult populations of Lepidoptera captured in the traps are not a representative sample of an entire area, they are shared and gathered within the network, giving them validity for use as a key tool for conducting field monitoring, the association added.

“The network is another means of monitoring Lepidoptera, in addition to other methods, such as light traps, helping to collect information on insect species, such as Fall armyworm, which are difficult to capture by the latter,” the association further added.