The effect of adhesives and solvents on the capture and specimen quality of pest thrips on coloured traps

The present study compared different adhesives for trapping efficacy, ease of removing specimens and the subsequent quality of specimens for identification of thrips pests captured on blue plastic boards in a commercial capsicum glasshouse. The mean total number of thrips caught on sticky boards differed significantly with different adhesives. Blue boards covered with a water-based adhesive caught the least total number of thrips in the two experiments (56 thrips per trap, experiment 1; 4 thrips per trap, experiment 2). Traps covered with Stikem Special® caught the greatest number of total thrips (299 per trap, experiment 1; 32 per trap, experiment 2). De-Solv-it® was the most effective solvent to remove thrips from sticky boards compared with water and mineral oil, with all thrips detached from boards for all adhesive treatments within 150 min. Damage to or absence of key morphological features due to removal of specimens with De-Solv-it that would prevent species identification was recorded in only 10 of the 720 specimens removed from traps across all adhesives. The majority of thrips (70-92%) identified were Thrips tabaci Lindeman or Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande). The type of adhesive used is an important factor to consider when developing traps for insect pest monitoring and management.