One of the challenges in detecting a pest incursion is the selection of an appropriate sampling technique that is relatively easy to use and inexpensive. Five sampling techniques (sticky traps, water traps, sweep netting, vacuum sampling and direct searching) were used to detect the tomato potato psyllid (Bactericera cockerelli) in potato crops on the North Island of New Zealand. Sticky traps and water traps outperformed the other methods in detecting psyllids. There was weak evidence that water traps outperformed sticky traps, but this difference was minor. Sticky traps closer to the edge of a crop were more likely to catch more psyllids. The results suggest that surveillance for incursion by B. cockerelli into Australia using yellow sticky or water traps would be easier and more time-effective to implement than other methods and would provide a higher probability of detection if the psyllid was in fact present.

Ants in the genus Iridomyrmex cause extensive problems for citrus producers in southern Australia by disrupting the biological control of honeydew-producing Hemiptera. We used baited pitfall traps to survey ant communities in 20 commercial citrus groves and test the hypothesis that populations of Iridomyrmex rufoniger gp spp. and Iridomyrmex purpureus can be reduced by conserving volunteer inter-row vegetation. Nine groves (five in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, New South Wales, and four in the Sunraysia area, Victoria) were classified as ÔbareÕ groves, where inter-row vegetation was routinely eliminated using herbicides and cultivation. The remaining ÔgrassedÕ groves (five in the MIA, six in Sunraysia) had inter-row vegetation controlled only by intermittent mowing. All groves had been managed consistently for between 9 and 22 years. MIA groves were trapped on 000 ants were recovered, with I. rufoniger gp spp. accounting for 74% of overall captures and dominating collections in both ÔbareÕ and ÔgrassedÕ groves. A linear mixed model analysis showed that ground cover management history had no significant effect (P > 0.05) on captures of I. rufoniger gp spp., I. purpureus, other Dolichoderinae, Ponerinae, Formicinae or Myrmicinae. High variability between ant populations in groves under the same management regime in each region suggests that aspects of grove management may be affecting ant community composition, however, our results indicate that suppression of pest Iridomyrmex species cannot be reliably achieved simply by altering the management of volunteer inter-row vegetation.