Mass trapping as a sustainable approach for Scarabaeidae pest management in crops and grasslands

Adamič Zamljen, Sergeja (author), Bohinc, Tanja (author), Trdan, Stanislav (author)

Soil-dwelling beetles, including native and invasive species such as Popilia japonica Newman (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), are persistent and damaging agricultural pests worldwide. Mass trapping, using pheromone-, light-, or food-based lures to attract and remove adults, is being developed as an environmentally sustainable alternative within integrated pest management (IPM). Scarab beetles respond positively to attractant-based traps, and large-scale programs against P. japonica in North America provide valuable insights for global applications. The efficacy of mass trapping depends on species biology, trap density, environmental conditions and landscape structure. Capturing adults does not always immediately reduce larval populations, as underground stages persist in soil for multiple years. Light traps are effective but often attract many non-target insects, whereas pheromone traps are more selective but require careful optimization of lure composition, release rate and placement. To achieve reliable suppression, mass trapping should be integrated with complementary strategies such as biological control agents (Beauveria spp., Metarhizium spp.), crop rotation, tolerant crop varieties and soil management. Future research should focus on refining lure design, optimizing deployment, testing predictive models and evaluating multi-bait systems. Overall, mass trapping represents a promising and environmentally sustainable tool that, when incorporated into integrated approaches, can enhance the management of soil-dwelling scarab beetles across diverse agroecosystems worldwide.

• Language: English
• Keywords: pheromone lures, light traps, integrated pest management, biological control, cultural practices, invasive species, sustainable agriculture
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.02 - Review Article
• Organization: BF - Biotechnical Faculty
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: 11 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 15, iss. 23, art. 2406
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-176205
• UDC: 632
• ISSN on article: 2077-0472
• COBISS.SI-ID: 258604291
• Publication date in RUL: 25.11.2025

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Agriculture
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 2077-0472
• COBISS.SI-ID: 523634201

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: feromonske vabe, svetolobne vabe, integrirano varstvo rastlin, biotično varstvo rastlin, odpornost proti insekticidom, kulturne prakse, trajnostno kmetijstvo

Projects

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: V4-2414
• Name: Preučevanje učinkovitosti, optimizacija in implementacija metod množičnega lovljenja in motenja parjenja izbranih gospodarsko pomembnih škodljivcev gojenih in samoniklih rastlin

• Funder: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Food of the Republic of Slovenia (MKGP)