Thrips will tend to be on the beans and seedlings. It may be necessary to move the plant material around to collect the insects easily. Avoid collecting thrips that are on the sponge, as honey clogs the aspirator.
Do not use alcohol in the hood if the HID lamp has been on. The lamp operates at a temperature above the flash point of the alcohol.
Varies with population levels in cages, insect stage desired, and number of plants to be inoculated.
| Step | Image |
| Place materials needed for insect collection in the hood as shown. The thrips aspirators are connected to the vacuum line. | |
Thrips will tend to be on the beans and seedlings. It may be necessary to move the plant material around to collect the insects easily. Avoid collecting thrips that are on the sponge, as honey clogs the aspirator. |
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| Before using the aspirator check the screening where the vial attaches for tears. If the collection tip has debris in it, replace it with a new disposable pipet, cut in the same manner as the old one and attached to the copper tubing with parafilm. |
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| Attach a glass vial to the aspirator and turn vacuum on. Vacuum should be turned on at the vacuum knob just enough to collect the thrips. Setting it too high damages the insects as they are collected. Carefully collect thrips with the aspirator, making sure the thrips are alive at the time of collection. Continue collecting until desired number per vial is reached. |
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| Tap vial and aspirator on hood floor so that thrips end up in the bottom of the vial. Remove vial from aspirator and quickly place a lid on the vial. Vials may be placed back in the box for transport to the greenhouse. Fill desired number of vials using the same procedure. | |
| After finishing collection, return colony cages to the growth chamber and put materials away. With colony cages out of the hood, spray an alcohol solution on the floor and walls to prevent insects from getting onto bean seedlings. Do not turn the HID lamp on soon after spraying alcohol. | |
| Place stoppers in holes in tube cages to prevent insect escape. The holes are to allow for insecticide applications if necessary for the research being conducted. Some of the cages do not have holes and do not need stoppers. | |
| Place cage over plant. Randomly select a vial from the box of vials containing thrips. Have the tape and a vial with thrips ready. Inoculating cages is often easier if working with a second person. | |
| Lift the cage, unscrew the vial lid, and quickly place the vial and lid into the cage. | |
| Press the cage back down into the soil. | |
| Cut a length of tape about as long as the cage is tall. Place tape on cage as shown in photo. The gap between the cage and the pot should be sealed. Use the minimum amount of tape required to prevent insect escape, as the tape is difficult to remove during evaluations. | |
| Inoculated cage should look similar to that shown at right. | |