Design and Implementation of an IoT-Based Smart Funnel Trap for Real-Time Monitoring of the Cotton Bollworm Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Smart pest traps, acting as continuous field observers, enable real-time monitoring of pest presence and prevalence in agricultural systems. The cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is one of the key pests of cotton cultivation and has consistently posed serious challenges to production due to its significant damage. Since pheromone traps provide the most accurate method for determining the optimal timing of control measures, and because these traps require frequent manual inspection, any delay or negligence in data recording can result in considerable losses to cotton fields. Therefore, in this study, Internet of Things (IoT) technology was employed to automate conventional funnel-shaped pheromone traps. The system continuously (24-hour interval) recorded the number of captured moths, peak attraction hours, as well as temperature and humidity data. A comparison of two trap types (standard funnel trap and smart funnel trap) over two cropping seasons (2022 and 2023) showed no significant differences between them. The smart trap captured 13.88 ± 2.54 and 14.27 ± 2.2 moths per trap, while the standard trap captured 16.5 ± 2.64 and 17.23 ± 3.03 moths per trap, respectively. In the 2022 season, the highest capture rate occurred between 21:00 and 22:00, followed by a decline until 23:00, after which a second peak was observed between 01:00 and 03:00. In the 2023 season, the highest capture occurred between 22:00 and 23:00, followed by a short decrease, and then another peak between 03:00 and 05:00. Considering that moth activity begins around 21:00, it is recommended that farmers schedule insecticide spraying for late evening hours to achieve a more effective impact on the future population of this pest.