Temporal pest trends in high tunnels

Tuesday, November 11, 2025

11:48 AM - 12:00 PM Pacific

Location: Oregon Convention Center, E146, OCC

Presenting Author(s)

MM

Marlo Gunnar McCarter

Postdoctoral researcher
Purdue University
West Lafayette, Indiana

Co-Author(s)

Samantha Willden (she/her/hers)

Assistant Professor
Cornell University
Geneva, New York
AW

Anna Wallingford

USDA-ARS
Beltsville, Maryland
Kacie Athey

University of Illinois
Urbana, Illinois
Laura Ingwell (she/her/hers)

Purdue University
West Lafayette, Indiana

Pest dynamics in high tunnels are understudied. To address this need, we monitored 34 high tunnels for two years, in three regions (NH, IN, IL). These farms varied in location along a rural to urban environment as measured by impervious surface surrounding the farm. Sticky cards were deployed and collected monthly, and timed visual counts were done on plants monthly to determine insect communities. This allowed us to examine seasonal trends of the high tunnel insect communities. In addition, the high tunnels were equipped with HOBO data loggers, which collected abiotic conditions hourly for the duration of the study. Results will be presented.