Fixed-Precision Sequential Sampling Plan of Syringopais temperatella (Lep., Gelechiidae) in Wheat Fields of Iran

Cereal leaf miner, Syringopais temperatella Led. (Lep., Gelechiidae), is an important wheat pest in many regions of the world, including Iran. Fixed precision sequential sampling plan, a cost-efficient method for estimating pest population density, has been used for developing a successful IPM program. In this study, the fixed precision sequential sampling plan of S. temperatella larvae was developed on wheat, cultivar Verinac®, during 2017-2019 growing seasons in Iran. For this purpose, first, spatial distribution of the larvae on wheat leaves was determined using Taylor's power law and Iwao's patchiness regression. The spatial distribution of the larvae was aggregative on the wheat leaves. Taylor’s power law provided a better fit for the data than Iwao’s patchiness regression. Therefore, Green's model was used for developing the fixed precision sequential sampling plan. The optimum sample sizes of the larvae ranged from 5- 68 plants and 12- 189 plants according to the average of larval density at precision levels D= 0.25 and D= 0.1, respectively. Estimated stop lines showed that the sampling must be continued until the cumulative number of the pest larvae reaches 3.45 (D= 0.25) and 83.76 (D= 0.1) per plant. Accuracy of the sampling plan was validated by RVSP software.