Sampling for Corn Flea Beetles Using Yellow Sticky Cards Placed at Different Heights and Orientations

When developing reliable disease management programs, it is important to ascertain the most reliable method to quantify the potential sources of inoculum for an epidemic. In the Stewart’s disease of corn pathosystem, the primary source of inoculum is the corn flea beetle (Chaetocnema pulicaria). This is because the transmission and survival of Pantoea stewartii, the causative organism, occurs by this vector. Management for Stewart’s disease focuses on reducing feeding by the corn flea beetle, thereby reducing transmission of the bacterium. Although there are management protocols currently in place that use visual counts for corn flea beetles to help make management decisions (i.e., insecticide spraying), it may be more practical to assess the number of corn flea beetles using yellow sticky cards. The objective of this study was to determine the optimum height and orientation for placing yellow sticky cards to sample for corn flea beetles