Comparison of vacuum and carbon dioxide-cone sampling devices for arthropods in flooded rice

Leafhoppers (Nephotettix spp.), whitebacked planthoppers, (Sogatella furcifera (Horvath)), brown planthoppers (Nilaparvata lugens (Staal)), ripple bugs (Microvelia atrolineata Bergoth), a predatory myrid (Cyrtorhinus lividipennis Reuter) and spiders were sample from flooded rice using a vacuum sampling device (FARMCOP) and a cone sampler CO sub(2)NE). The vacuum sampler was a modified automobile vacuum cleaner powered by batteries and the cone sampler required carbon dioxide gas and aluminum cones. The FARMCOP samples yielded significantly higher mean numbers of most arthropods except spiders. However, the coefficients of variation for the two techniques were approximately equal and the CO sub(2)NE sampler was less expensive, required fewer materials to construct, was easier to use, and allowed faster sampling.