Using Mass Trapping in a Thrips IPM program

Ashley Summerfield

Mass Trapping

• Sticky cards, tape or trap plants

• Easy to implement

• Inexpensive

• Mass trapping is most effective for dispersing thrips

– Entry points

• Every thrips caught = big impact on future population

Sticky Cards

• Small cards excellent monitoring tool

• Larger cards & tape for mass trapping

• Cards & tape can be equally effective

Sticky Cards

• Thrips are poor fliers• Do not put cards too high above

crop

• Put some cards under benches

• Examine sticky cards weekly to assess pest numbers

• Mass trapping cards/tape can be left up for several weeks

Sticky Cards

• Both yellow and blue sticky cards are equally attractive to thrips

• Yellow is attractive to many species;• can also be used to mass-trap

whiteflies, fungus gnats & shore flies

• Blue is more specific to thrips• less attractive to other species

• Use blue to avoid trapping flying beneficials

• Avoid blue when using bumblebees

Sticky Cards

• New patterned sticky roll “Optiroll Super” • Developed by BioPol Natural (Netherlands) & Russel IPM (UK)• Greenhouse trials in South America reported blue Optiroll substantially

increased thrips captures• Already being used in Ontario

Trap Plants

• Yellow mums & marigolds

• Adult thrips prefer plants with flowers

• Attractiveness of flowers is influenced by

• Volatiles ● Pollen

• Colour ● Nutritional value

• May be used as banker plants

• Replace trap plants weekly

Trap Plants

• Adult thrips are significantly more attracted to flowering trap plants than non-flowering crop

• Trap plants more effective while adults are dispersing

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• Trap plants effectively reduce thrips population in crop in commercial setting

Trap Plants

Trap placement• Interspersed pattern better than barrier pattern• Increase concentration of trap plants near entry points

>

Interspersed Barrier

Thrips lures

neryl-S-2-methylbutanoate(Thripline ams, Syngenta Bioline)

• Thrips aggregation pheromone

• Marketed as a monitoring tool

• Improve mass trapping?

• Improve biocontrol?• Agitating thrips (more contact)

• Attracting predators

Thrips luresResearch at Vineland

Does the addition of thrips semiochemicals improve efficacy of mass trapping by sticky cards and trap plants?

Thrips luresResearch at Vineland

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• More thrips caught on trap plants with lures

• More thrips caught on sticky cards with lures

• Both sticky cards and trap plants more effective with lures

• Trap plants more effective than sticky cards

Trap plant + lureTrap plant

Sticky card + lureSticky card

Thrips lures

• Similar results found by two independent research groups in strawberries (UK) & roses (Australia)• Commercial trials, natural thrips pressure

Sampson & Kirk, 2013 Broughton et al., 2015

Conclusions

• Mass trapping a useful tool in thrips IPM toolkit • Sticky Cards

• Pros: low maintenance, kills thrips, versatile, useful for multiple pests

• Cons: may also catch flying bios

• Trap Plants• Pros: more attractive to thrips, will not kill flying bios, may be

used as banker

• Cons: higher maintenance than cards

• Optimize both methods with proper placement & addition of lures