Korean Journal of Agricultural Science ISSN:2466-2402(Print) 2466-2410(Online) 농업과학연구

An effective sampling method is necessary to monitor potato tuber moths (Phthorimaea operculella) because they are the biggest concern in potato-cultivating areas. In this study, a sequential sampling method was developed based on the results of field surveys of potato tuber moths in South Korea. Potato tuber moths were collected in fields cultivating potatoes at six sites, and their spatial distribution was investigated using the Taylor power law. The optimal sampling size and cumulative number of potato tuber moths in traps to stop sampling were determined based on the spatial distribution pattern and mean density of the collected potato tuber moths. Finally, the developed sampling method was applied to propose a control action, and its sampling efficiency was compared with that of the traditional sampling method using a binomial distribution. The potato tuber moths tended to aggregate; the optimal number was approximately 5 - 16 traps for sampling, and the number varied with the mean density of potato tuber moths according to the sampling sites. In addition, one, two, and three sites might require the following actions: Continued sampling, control, and no control, respectively. Sampling with the binomial distribution showed the minimum sample size was 12 when considering the economic threshold level. Here, we propose an effective sampling method that can be applied for future monitoring and field surveys of potato tuber moths in South Korea.