title: Evaluation of five sampling methods for the psocids Liposcelis entomophila and L. decolor (Psocoptera: Liposcelididae) in steel bins containing wheat.
abstract: An evaluation of five sampling methods for studying psocid population levels was conducted in two steel bins containing 32.6 tonnes of wheat in Manhattan, KS. Psocids were sampled using a 1.2-m open-ended trier, corrugated cardboard refuges placed on the underside of the bin hatch or the surface of the grain, and manual or automated electronic counts from Insector probe traps. Only two species were identified in this study: Liposcelis entomophila (Enderlein) in 2005 and L. decolor (Pearman) in 2006. In both years, psocid numbers started to increase in early September, peaked earliest in surface refuges, and peaked at nearly the same time in grain samples and manual and electronic Insector counts. No psocids were found in hatch refuges in December to February, although psocids were detected by the other sampling methods during this time. Numbers of psocids in the grain samples could be estimated from the numbers of psocids obtained using the cardboard refuges and Insector probe traps in both years. The results indicate that cardboard refuges or Insectors may provide an effective method for sampling psocids in bins of wheat.
authors.affiliation: USDA-ARS, Grain Marketing and Production Research Center, 1515 College Ave., Manhattan, KS 66502-2736, USA. george.opit@okstate.edu
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Opit
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Throne
authors.forename: P W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Flinn
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D007313:Insecta / Q000502:physiology*; D007615:Kansas; D011156:Population Density; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D014908:Triticum / Q000469:parasitology*