We would like to observe the development of single insects on plants in the field. The insects usually settle on the bottom side of the leaf. Leaves are quite large (about palm-size) and more or less waved with some strong veins. The experiment will run about one month during summer, and therefore possible physical damage by the cages, rains and wind are additional challenges (the standard setup with metal clips and sticks can be problematic, since it is unstable and susceptible to wind especially with upper leaves which are about 30-50 cm above ground).
Now we are unsure what type of caging to use and a few ideas we had so far are:
- Light-weight clip-cages without sticks (still fragile setup, mounting only possible at leaf edges in larger leaves bec of clips)
- Gauze nets (covers whole leaf; prone to getting wet during rain, to heavy then or insects might drown)
- Perforated plastic bags (too high humidity and temperatures within bag)
Do you have any better setup for such caging or another cage type or an idea how to mount a clip cage safely on such leaves in the field?
Thanks for any input.
Hi, Peter, if you let me know approximate size (cm) of the plant leaf and what kind of insect you will use in the field, I may have have some idea. Sincerely.
Hi Selcuk, thanks. The leaves are about 5 cm when starting and increase with time up to 20 cm and we'll look on whiteflies (adults and larvae).
Any cage will modify the microenvironment about the insect. It will also influence the physiology of the leaf on a spatial scale relevant to the insect. The problems you mention for gauze nets and perforated plastic bags apply to all cages, are unavoidable, but may be worse for some strategies.
How about using a flat magnet to attach the cage to the leaf. I would make something like a clip cage, but glue the magnet to the base and use a magnet of opposite polarity on the other side (or maybe something like iron foil). It will be fairly heavy, so attach a bamboo skewer to the branch in such a way as to provide support. Might use thick wire to do the same thing.
How about using the clip cages and "gluing" them on with something like tanglefoot. I would use the bamboo skewer idea to add support. I tried to think of a non-toxic glue that would work and didn't have any ideas. Bioquip sells some nice small clip cages that may work.
In part, how well this works depends on how strong the wave is in the leaf. You could buy foam pipe, and cut it to match the wave in the leaf. Then use tanglefoot.
Hi thanks for the suggestions. Magnets we never thought about and have to find out...an interesting idea, if we find something light-weight (since leaf stems easily break and so the magnetic clip cage would need additional support then, too).
Tanglefoot I'd not like as the glue will surely spread and contaminate other surfaces and trap the insects within the cages after some time. It might work in greenhouse but not in the field.
And the waves are quite strong and we use stuff like foam pipe to protect the leaf surface from the pressure of the clip cage to avoid necrosis there.
Would walk in cages work? Bioquip.com sells a fine mesh cage that is 6 feet tall by 6 feet wide by 12 feet long (catalog # 1412C). This is 1.5 meters wide and tall by 3.6 meters long. They also sell cages that are half as long. You could put tanglefoot on the branch (or trunk) to exclude ants. This approach avoids the problems you state for gauze nets. There is some shading effect, but it is not too bad. I grow small citrus trees in these cages.
I know it's too late! but check this: Article A simple, light clip‐cage for experiments with aphids
Awesome contributions. I have been researching on how to use clip cages on V3-V4 Maize plants. Again, thanks. I will try some of these.
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