2025/01/01 by Jeffrey G. Fidgen, Lucas E. Roscoe, Jeffrey Ogden +1 · 1 voice
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Environmental Science · #Forest Insect Ecology and Management #Forest ecology and management #Insect-Plant Interactions and Control
paper · pdf · doi:10.4039/tce.2024.46
openalex publication_date 2025/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
Abstract Ball sampling is an active technique of sampling the upper canopy of hemlock, Tsuga sp. (Pinaceae), to detect the nonnative hemlock woolly adelgid, Adelges tsugae Annand (Hemiptera: Adelgidae). We tested a 7.5-cm-diameter wooden ball fitted with Velcro ® with a BigShot ® slingshot that sends the ball into the upper hemlock canopy. The 7.5-cm ball detected wool with fewer sampling attempts per tree and had a higher detection rate after 10 sampling attempts than a 5-cm wooden ball using a much smaller HyperDog ® slingshot did. However, sampling with the 7.5-cm ball took 20% longer per tree and fatigued shooters after only 30–40 shots due to the size and effort required to use the larger slingshot. A larger sampling device (= greater Velcro ® surface area) significantly improved detection of adelgid wool and is recommended, provided a more efficient launching system is developed.