VOLATILE CHEMICALS FOR THRIPS (THYSANOPTERA, THRIPIDAE) HOST-FINDING AND APPLICATIONS FOR THRIPS PEST-MANAGEMENT

The effect of the addition of volatile chemicals to water traps was ex amined for adult thrips species in New Zealand and the Netherlands. Th e chemicals ethyl nicotinate (3-pyridinecarboxylic-acid), p-anisaldhyd e (4-metboxybenzaldebyde), and benzaldehyde (benzoic aldehyde) increas ed trap capture (up to 35 times) for a number of flower-inhabiting thr ipid adults. Ethyl nicotinate increased trap capture of the New Zealan d flower thrips, Thrips obscuratus (Crawford), by >100 times. The addi tion 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 occas ions thrips were caught in traps with ethyl nicotinate before traps wi thout ethyl nicotinate. The addition of p-anisaldebyde to sticky board s for control trapping of the western flower thrips, Frankliniella occ identalis (Pergande), in glasshouses increased capture of adult female s between 1.8 and 6 times. Behavioral responses for thrips host-findin g are discussed with emphasis on the use of volatile chemicals for thr ips pest management.