design, construction and evaluation of a portable pneumatic collection machine for colorado beetles in potato fields

the colorado beetle, leptinotarsa decemlineata (say), is the major defoliating and exotic insect pest of potato plants and has caused serious problems in the east azerbaijan and ardabil regions of iran since emerging in the absence of natural native enemies. in the development of a suitable control strategy based on integrated pest management, it is important to recognize control methods that decrease insecticide use. this study was conducted to collect colorado beetle adults and larvae mechanically from a field area using pneumatic equipment generating moving airstreams. in some regions, small-scale farming, conventional planting and irrigation methods have resulted in reduced efficiency for existing tractor-mounted and manual pneumatic equipment because of the damage to plants by the movement of the wheels in the field. in this study, a portable and convenient pneumatic insect control machine was designed and constructed. the machine had a blowing unit to dislodge insects from the plants and a collecting unit placed opposite to one another other and positioned on the two sides of the row of potato plants. airstreams were produced by the centrifugal pump of an atomizer sprayer. to evaluate the machine, tests were conducted on a potato farm. these were based on a complete block design with two airstream velocities (35 and 45m/s) with four replications. in each test, the number of beetles dislodged and collected by the machine was measured. results indicated that an airflow velocity of 45 m/s was more effective than 35m/s in dislodging collecting adult insects from plants with rates of 44% and 21.2%, respectively, in one pass.