I smell, therefore I react: Evaluating the performance of commercial lures on western flower thrips as potential tools for mass capture strategies in vegetable crops

The western flower thrips (WFT), Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande), is a cosmopolitan pest that affects a wide range of ornamental and agricultural crops. Economic losses inflicted by WFT result from feeding damage and the transmission of destructive plant pathogenic viruses. Of significant concern for lettuce production in the Salinas Valley of California is Impatiens necrotic spot virus (INSV; family Tospoviridae, genus Orthotospovirus), which has led to substantial yield losses in recent years. Despite the need for novel integrated pest management strategies to control WFT and INSV, the use of color panel traps has provided valuable insight on understanding thrips population densities throughout the region. Building upon these strategies, the visual cues from color panel traps in tandem with chemical attractants have garnered interest not only in improving standard pest monitoring programs, but also in advancing mass-trap and kill, and push-pull methods for pest management. To develop a similar management strategy for WFT, we evaluated the performance of commercially available semiochemicals in the Salinas Valley. Four chemical lures with different active ingredients were tested, including p-anisaldehyde, neryl (S)-2-methylbutanoate, and verbenone- a volatile compound found in pine pollen headspace. Trials using blue panel traps in combination with lures were conducted over three, 5-week seasonal periods in conventional fields adjacent to native fauna and vegetable crops. Here we discuss the performance of commercial lures and their integration in future control strategies as part of a long-term sustainable management program for WFT in the agricultural industry.