Proposed sampling for Neohydatothrips signifer (Thysanoptera:Thripidae) in passion fruit crop

Abstract

The objective of this work was to develop a proposal for Neohydatothrips signifer sampling in the passion fruit crop. Average thrip infestation on the crop was correlated with the meteorological variables of relative humidity, temperature, and precipitation using Pearson correlation coefficient. Likewise, determinations were done for the aggregation rate of the growing population using chi square (X²) for the Poisson distribution, the ratio test V²/μ and the negative binomial distribution. Temperature is the only climatic variable that significantly correlated with the mean density of the thrips. There were higher incidence and population density of the insects at the vegetative terminal buds, in comparison to the flower buds. The spatial distribution pattern for this insect, along all phenological stages of the plant, was aggregated. Using the aggregation index and the average population, a sample of 22 new vegetative terminal buds per hectare was determined as appropriate, regardless of its position within the plant. A thrip sampling method in the passion fruit crop should sample over terminal buds, without account their position on plants.