Colored sticky traps for monitoring phytophagous thrips and their impact on beneficial insects

The capture efficiency of six colored sticky traps (blue, green, orange, purple, white, and yellow) was tested in mango agroecosystems of Mexico with the purpose of (i) documenting the diversity of Thysanoptera; (ii) determining the attraction of phytophagous thrips; (iii) assess the impact of these traps on beneficial insects; and (iv) assess the relationship between the density of Frankliniella thrips captured on traps and those found in the inflorescences. The use of colored sticky traps has revealed a great diversity of thrips and beneficial insects in the mango agroecosystem.

A total of 16,441 thrips were caught on sticky traps throughout the sampling period, of which 16,251 (98.8%) were thrips adults and 190 (1.2%) larvae. Forty-one species of thrips were collected either from sticky traps or from inflorescences. Of these, 32 species feed either on leaves or flowers. Frankliniella cephalica, F. gardeniae, and F. invasor, were the most abundant species. Scirtothrips citri and S. manihoti were also captured among other phytophagous thrips. The white trap captured significantly more Frankli-niella species and also had the smallest capture of beneficial insects. Yellow traps were the most attractive for Scirtothrips species, with low detrimental effects on insect pollinators, although they had a high impact on natural enemies. Thrips species captured on sticky traps showed a low and non-significantly correlation with respect to the density of thrips in mango inflorescences.

Although sticky traps did not predict the density of Frankliniella populations in mango inflorescences, the study represents substantial progress in the use of color traps in mango agroecosystems. Colored sticky traps would be a good option for monitoring mango thrips to detect them at earlier stages of infestation to implement management tactics and avoid the building-up of thrips populations.

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Mbula, Lucia & Infante, Francisco & Cavalleri, Adriano & Mez, Jaime & Giron, Antonio & Fanson, Benjamin & Id, Francisco. (2022). Colored sticky traps for monitoring phytophagous thrips (Thysanoptera) in mango agroecosystems and their impact on beneficial insects. PLoS ONE. 17(11): e0276865. 1-20. 10.1371/journal.pone.0276865.