📘 Screen: Pest Group
A pest group combines separate counts into a single number. The most common use is to add up the sizes of the same species: if you count small and large helicoverpa in separate fields, you create the group "Helicoverpa Armigera Total" to see the total for the species. You can also combine similar species — "Heliothinae Family Total", "Soybean Looper Total".
Whoever decides on spraying usually looks at that total, not the size-by-size count — and that total is what this screen defines.
Besides adding up, the group has its own control levels: the "Low", "Medium" and "High" ranges that color the map legend, feed the dashboard and trigger the alert email.
📍 Location in the system
Menu: Basic > Pest Group
🧩 Main function
Define groups that add up the counts of several pests and set, by crop and growth stage range, the control levels for that total.
📝 Main fields
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Code | Short identifier for the group. |
| Name/Description | Required. The name of the group as it appears in the field and on the dashboard: "Helicoverpa Armigera Total", "Heliothinae Family Total", "Soybean Looper Total". |
| Calculation method | How the counts of the group's pests become a single number. With Standard, the group adds up the value already calculated for each pest — this covers most cases. The other options (Individual, Cotton (positions), Simple average and Group (positions)) serve specific setups; only change them with help from support. |
| Show in details (APP) | Check it so the group appears in the field app's detail view, and not only in the summary. |
| Active | Uncheck it to remove the group from the lists without deleting the scouting records that already used it. |
🗂 Additional tabs
🐛 Details (Pest)
This is where you say what goes into the group. For each line:
- Pests — required. The pest that starts counting toward the group
- Size — only appears after you choose a pest that works by size, and then lists its active sizes. This is how you build the most common case: one line for "Small" and another for "Large" of the same pest
- Group — required. The group this line goes into
- Active — uncheck it to take the line out of the calculation without deleting it
The tab's list shows Group, Pests, weeds and diseases, Size and Active. When the group adds up sizes of the same pest, the Size column is what tells the lines apart.
It helps to know how the total is produced: each pest is first calculated by its own calculation method, and the group adds up those finished values. It is not a sum of raw counts — if one pest is measured as a percentage of plants and another as individuals per meter, adding both in the same group does not produce a number that means anything. Group pests that are counted the same way.
A pest set up with predefined levels (Low/Medium/High) is left out of the group calculation: its result is a percentage of points, and it does not go into the sum.
The group does not replace the pest. Each pest keeps its own value and its own color; the group gets one more value and one more color, calculated in parallel.
📈 Control Levels
These are the ranges that translate the counted number into a situation — this is what makes the result appear highlighted in the range's color on the scouting dashboard. Each level is registered by crop, because what is "high" in soybean is not "high" in cotton:
- Crop — required; it is what loads the list of growth stages right below
- Type — whether the count is per Plant, per m2 or Both
- Start stage (from) and End stage (to) — the development range in which that level applies. Either you enter both, or neither. The stage compared is the one the scout entered when opening the scouting
- Start value (From) and End value (To) — the count range.
In the list the columns appear as
From (=<)andTo (>): the From value belongs to the range, the To value already belongs to the next range - Description — the situation that range represents: Low, Medium or High. It is what sets the color
- Order — the range's position in the legend. If left blank, the system fills it in on its own based on the description: Low 1, Medium 2, High 3
- Send alert email — check it so the system sends an email when the count falls into that range. It is usually checked only on the High level
The list shows Crop, Start st., End st., Description, From (=<), To (>), Type and Order.
A soybean group looks like this, with the three ranges covering the whole cycle: PP - Pre-planting to R8 - Full maturity, Low from 0 to 1, Medium from 1 to 2, High from 2 to 200. You don't have to break it down by growth stage — only do so when the threshold really changes over the cycle.
The system does not allow two overlapping ranges for the same crop, same type and same description, nor a start stage later than the end stage — when this happens, it warns you and does not save.
- The spraying decision looks at the group total, not the single species
- The map and dashboard show the situation in colors, without anyone interpreting numbers
- The alert email goes out on its own when the count passes the control level
❓ Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a pest class and a pest group?
The class organizes the list so the crop scout can choose in the field — it is screen organization. The group adds up counts of different pests into a single number and has its own control level — it is an agronomic decision. A pest has one required class; joining a group is optional.
How do I add small and large caterpillars into a single number?
By creating a group. On the Details (Pest) tab, add the same pest twice: one line with the "Small" size and another with "Large". The system starts calculating the group total alongside the values for each size — and the group can have its own control levels, which are usually different from those of each size on its own.
Why doesn't the result show a classification even though the pest was counted?
Almost always because there is no control level for that combination. Levels are registered by crop, by counting type (Plant or m2) and by growth stage range: if the scouting was done at a stage outside the registered ranges, the count doesn't fall into any level and the number shows on the dashboard without highlighting.
How do I get the system to alert me when a pest goes over the level?
Check Send alert email on the range that represents the critical level — usually the one described as "High". When a scouting falls into that range, the alert goes out automatically, without depending on anyone opening the dashboard.
Do I need to register levels for each crop?
Yes. Crop is a required field of the control level, precisely because the threshold changes from crop to crop. Register the ranges for each crop the farm scouts; for a crop with no level registered the result appears without classification.