Botany JoVE (Open Access) Citable · DOI

Sampling for Estimating Frankliniella Species Flower Thrips and Orius Species Predators in Field Experiments

Name: Sampling for Estimating Frankliniella Species Flower Thrips and Orius Species Predators in Field Experiments
Uploaded: 2026-06-17
Duration: 7 min 13 s
Description: The western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande), is a polyphagous pest that has been spread worldwide. The extensive use of insecticides ...

DOI: 10.3791/59869-v

What you'll learn

✓ Sample flower thrips and predatory minute pirate bugs in field crops
✓ Process and count arthropod samples from flowers in the laboratory
✓ Evaluate thrips management tactics and predation efficacy in experiments

Protocol

Presented here is a protocol to determine the number of thrips and minute pirate bug predators in crops over multiple dates in field experiments. Also illustrated is how to determine the efficacy of management tactics against thrips and evaluate the benefits of predation by minute pirate bugs.

Difficulty

intermediate

Total time

~2–4 hours per sampling date (field collection + lab processing); repeated over multiple dates per experiment

Steps

Collect flower thrips and predator samples

Standardized sampling of thrips (Frankliniella species) and minute pirate bug predators (Orius species) from crop flowers at predetermined times and locations.

▶ 01:13

Process samples and count arthropods

Sort, identify, and enumerate thrips and predator specimens from collected samples using microscopy and reference keys in the laboratory.

▶ 02:21

Analyze population dynamics and management efficacy

Compare thrips and predator abundance across sampling dates and treatment groups to assess pest control effectiveness and predation benefits.

▶ 05:07

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