Data on winged insect dynamics in melon crops in southeastern France

This article displays insect count data obtained in eleven field trials conducted between 2010 and 2019 in southeastern France. Winged insect abundances were monitored daily within melon crops during 8–11 weeks in May–July using a suction trap or a yellow pan trap. Aphids were identified under a stereomicroscope. In total, 29,709 winged aphids belonging to 216 taxa and 151,061 other flying insects were caught. Among possible uses, these data can populate larger multisite studies or larger time series investigating aphid community variations. They can also feed generic studies exploring temporal dependencies or species assemblages. They can stimulate new collaborations with entomologists keen on implementing molecular tools or taxonomic expertise on a large specimen collection.


Data
presents the melon crop details for each of the 11 field trials: location, date of planting, trial area, number of plants, number of rows, number of plants per row, row spacing and plant spacing. Table 2 presents the 216 aphid taxa recorded during the insect monitoring conducted in Avignon between 2010 and 2019. Table 3 presents a summary of airborne insect monitoring in 11 field trials conducted in Avignon between 2010 and 2019. In total, 29,709 winged aphids and 151,061 other flying insects were caught. According to the dataset, the abundance of winged aphids varied between 431 and 4206; the abundance of other flying insects varied between 1169 and 23,139. Per dataset, aphids represented between 5 and 35% of the catch. Between 35 and 107 aphid taxa were recorded per dataset. A small proportion of aphids (0.3e2.5% per dataset) could not be assigned to a taxon because of i) limit of taxonomic expertise, ii) loss during storage, or iii) damage during trapping. Fig. 1 illustrates the main trapping method used to monitor winged insects in each of the 11 trials (suction trap). Fig. 2  These data can benefit other scientists keen to add Avignon datasets in a multisite analysis focusing on a particular aphid taxon or interested in species richness and diversity. They can also populate larger time series investigating community assemblage variations in a context of climate change for instance. The data can feed generic studies exploring temporal dependencies or species assemblages. The data can be useful to compare different insect trapping methods and could stimulate other teams to develop the suction trap described in this paper.
Most data correspond to stored specimens that could be shared with entomologists interested in the taxonomic identification of non-aphid taxa, or the implementation of molecular tools to genotype a given taxon or identify a particular gene (insecticide resistance for instance).
station (43 56 0 49N, 4 51 0 52E) ( Table 1). The two sites are approximately 4 km apart and surrounded by a highly diversified environment consisting of discontinuous urban fabric, commercial units, arable land, permanent crops (vineyards, fruit trees, olive groves), pastures and mixed forest, according to CORINE land cover nomenclature [1]. The experimental design consisted of a Charentais-type melon crop which layout varied according to trials (Table 1). Seedlings were prepared in an insect-proof greenhouse three weeks before planting. Depending on the trial, plants at the 1e3 leaf stage were planted in late April or late May on dark brown plastic mulch with drip irrigation. Early plantings were protected from wind damage with Agryl P17 fleece (Fiberweb France, Biesheim) for 11e15 days. The crop comprised 120 to 240 plants (0.5e0.8 m plant spacing) organized in 6e16 rows (1.5e2 m row spacing) depending on the trial. No insecticides were applied during trials.

Insect trapping and winged aphid identification
A non-biased suction trap was designed to sample winged insects daily at the crop height [2]. It is made up of a vacuum chamber generating a downward suction, an air extractor (400 m 3 /h, 160B model, France Air), an insect collector and a chimney rain cap (Fig. 1). The insect collector is inserted in the vacuum chamber. Small insects flying above the vacuum chamber opening are catched and dragged in a collecting pot containing 100 ml of water with 5 ml/l detergent (Teepol 610 S, ref 86350, Sigma-Aldrich) to break the surface tension and prevent insects from escaping. Each trial was equipped with a suction trap set up in the melon crop. The trap runned daily for a 12-h sequence (8:00 a.m. -8:00 p.m.) thanks to a timer. The collecting pot was changed daily before the start of the trapping.
For three of the 11 field trials, winged insects were also sampled with a yellow pan trap (model FLORA cultures basses, ref 058501, SigneNature) placed at 2e3 m from the suction trap (Fig. 2). The trap was filled with 1 l of water with 5 ml/l detergent and changed daily at 8:00 a.m.
Airborne insect monitoring started at crop planting or fleece removal to avoid bias caused by a possible visual repellent effect of the fleece on winged aphid behaviour. Depending on the trial, it was carried out for 55e80 days. Catches were collected daily, rinsed with tap water and stored in 70% ethanol until sorting (aphids vs other insects) and taxonomic identification (aphids only) under a stereomicroscope. Aphids were identified based on morphological characteristics using several dichotomous keys [3e5] and counted. Individuals which could not be identified to species were grouped at genus level.