Field Comparison of Manual and Automated Trapping Systems for Monitoring Diabrotica virgifera virgifera Adults in Maize

The western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte) remains one of the most damaging pests of maize across Europe, including Romania. Reliable integrated pest management relies on monitoring systems capable of capturing adult flight activity under field conditions. This study presents a comparative field evaluation of three monitoring approaches: Virgiwit yellow sticky panels (YSP), pheromone-based CSALOMON® KLP+ traps, and the automated iScout® digital monitoring system. Monitoring was conducted at weekly intervals over an eight-week period (20 July–15 September 2025) in four maize fields in western Romania. Capture data were analyzed descriptively to assess relative trap performance and to explore associations with selected meteorological variables. KLP+ traps consistently recorded the highest numbers of adults, while YSP traps reproduced the main seasonal flight patterns. The iScout® system captured fewer individuals but provided continuous temporal information on adult activity. Correlation analyses indicated generally weak and inconsistent relationships between trap captures and short-term weather variables, reflecting the limitations imposed by weekly manual sampling and site-specific variability. Overall, the results highlight the complementary strengths and limitations of manual and automated monitoring tools and support their exploratory use for characterizing seasonal flight activity and temporal population patterns of Diabrotica virgifera virgifera under field conditions. Further multi-year and device-specific validation is required before automated systems can be fully integrated into operational pest management frameworks.