Location: Crop Improvement and Protection Research
Project Number: 2038-22000-020-031-A
Project Type: Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Nov 1, 2025
End Date: Mar 30, 2028
Objective:
Objective 1: Establish a proof-of-concept for new thrips traps.
Objective 2: Deploy traps in non-crop areas to monitor thrips and thrips-transmitted viruses during the winter months.
Objective 3: Deploy traps to monitor thrips and thrips-transmitted viruses during the lettuce season.
Objective 4: Share knowledge and cost analysis.
Approach:
Objective 1: A total of 4-6 thrips traps will be 3D printed and assembled with solar panels, fans, collection vials, and other accessories for functionality and field deployment. Traps will be set up adjacent to lettuce crops plots at the USDA Spence Research Farm in Salinas, CA and collected every 3-4 days and brought back to the USDA for counting thrips and molecular diagnostic testing to detect and quantify the INSV and a second thrips-transmitted Tospovirus, Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV). Lettuce will also be visually evaluated for symptoms of INSV/TSWV infection and confirmed using serological assays. The number of viral copies from thrips will be plotted against the virus incidence in lettuce.
Objective 2: To test if the traps can intercept virus-infected thrips populations that are emerging from non-crop areas, ten locations will be selected for monitoring during the winter months. Locations include roadways and ditches, riparian habitats and foothills, and permanent crops. Thrips traps will be deployed at each location and thrips collection vials from the traps will
be exchanged weekly. Thrips will be brought back to the laboratory for diagnostic testing. Vegetation that is adjacent to the traps will also be sampled once a month and tested for INSV and TSWV using serological assays.
Objective 3: A total of 15 commercial lettuce fields in Salinas will be used as study sites, with 1-2 traps deployed at each field. Fields that have previously reported high levels of INSV will be selected and traps will be placed adjacent to field edges where thrips are likely to migrate in. Each week, collection vials from the traps will be exchanged and thrips will be brought back to the laboratory for diagnostic testing and lettuce fields will also be evaluated for symptoms of INSV and TSWV and recorded.
Objective 4: Outcomes will be shared with at meetings, conferences, webinars, and blog posts. At the end of the project, ARS researchers will estimate the cost of the materials and supplies required for each surveillance unit. This includes 3D printing materials, electrical components, thrips preservative solutions, and consumables. ARS will also estimate the cost of the supplies to perform the diagnostic testing of thrips, as well as the labor required to conduct the work.