Detecting Thrips parvispinus (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) in retail plant stores in Southern California

Thrips parvispinus (Thysanoptera: Thripidae: Karny) is an invasive pest that harms peppers and ornamentals. It has not been reported as present in Southern California but has a history of establishing in regions prior to official detection. We surveyed retail garden stores in San Diego and Orange Counties to determine if T. parvispinus was present in California but undetected, and found it on Capsicum, Dipladenia, Mandevilla, and Gardenia species across a year-long period. Our work demonstrates that T. parvispinus can spread to new areas undetected on nursery stock and validates sampling retail stores as a low-effort early detection method that can be used by researchers and regulators to find T. parvispinus on nursery stock.