Volatile Chemicals for Thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) Host Finding and Applications for Thrips Pest Management

Abstract

The effect of the addition of volatile chemicals to water traps was examined for adult thrips species in New Zealand and the Netherlands. The chemicals ethyl nicotinate (3-pyridinecarboxylic acid), p -anisaldehyde (4-methoxybenzaldehyde), and benzaldehyde (benzoic aldehyde) increased trap capture (up to 35 times) for a number of flowerinhabiting thripid adults. Ethyl nicotinate increased trap capture of the New Zealand flower thrips, Thrips obscuratus (Crawford), by >100 times. The addition of ethyl nicotinate to water traps for early-season monitoring of T. obscuratus in a nectarine orchard significantly increased capture of adult male and female thrips (up to 27 times), and on several occasions thrips were caught in traps with ethyl nicotinate before traps without ethyl nicotinate. The addition of p -anisaldehyde to sticky boards for control trapping of the western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande), in glasshouses increased capture of adult females between 1.8 and 6 times. Behavioral responses for thrips hostfinding are discussed with emphasis on the use of volatile chemicals for thrips pest management.