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Thrips were surveyed in tomato spotted wilt‐susceptible crops in five areas across North Carolina. Tomato, pepper, and tobacco plants in commercial fields were sampled and 30 species of thrips were collected over a 3‐year period. The most common species overall was Frankliniella tritici (Fitch). The most common thrips species that are known to vector Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV) were F. fusca (Hinds), and F. occidentalis (Pergande). Relatively low numbers of Thrips tabaci Lindeman, another reported vector, were collected. The spatial and temporal occurrence of vectors varied with sampling method, crop species, region of North Carolina, and localized areas within each region. In a laboratory experiment, no difference was detected between the ability of F. fusca and F. occidentalis to acquire and transmit a local isolate of TSWV. Based on vector efficiency and occurrence, F. fusca is considered the most important vector of TSWV in tobacco, whereas both F. fusca and F. occidentalis are important vectors of TSWV in tomato and pepper.

The response of flower thrips, Frankliniella spp., to various colors and sticky trap designs was evaluated in staked tomato fields in western North Carolina. Yellow sticky traps caught significantly more thrips compared with blue or white traps. There were no differences in the relative proportion of thrips species caught on different colored traps. The size of the flower sampling unit (i.e., 10-flowers versus all flowers per plant) did not influence the correlation between sticky trap catches and thrips abundance in flowers. Only F. occidentalis (Pergande) exhibited a significant correlation between percent abundance on all colors of sticky traps and percent abundance in flowers. Colored sticky traps caught high numbers of F. tritici (Fitch), despite the fact that few F. tritici were collected from flowers. In tests to evaluate different trap designs, cylindrical and cup traps caught more F. tritici than glass slide traps. Cylindrical sticky traps were more economical and enabled easier identification of thrips than glass slide or cup traps.

Heavy-metal pollution of aquatic ecosystems is a widespread phenomenon after industrial consumption. Whether aquatic organisms are adapted to the heavy-metal pollutants or not, such environmental stress causes changes in physiological responses. In this study, the aquatic midge, Chironomus riparius Meigen, was used to find changes of expression of proteins in relation to cadmium exposure. Dose-response relationships between cadmium concentrations and mortality of 3rd instar midge larvae were observed and the protein levels were compared using PD-Quest after 2-DE. Comparing the intensity of protein spots, 21 proteins decreased and 18 proteins increased in response to cadmium treatment. With increased proteins, three enzymes such as S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase, O-methyltransferase, and aspartokinase were involved in the glutathione biosynthesis and a key enzyme regulating fatty acid biosynthesis, oleyl-acyl carrier protein thioesterase was also identified. According to the functional classification of decreased levels of proteins, they were involved in energy production, protein fate, nucleotide biosynthesis, cell division, transport and binding, signal transduction, and fatty acid and phospholipid metabolism in the cell. In addition, phenol hydroxylase, thioesterase, zinc metalloprotease, and aspartate kinase were newly expressed after cadmium exposure at the concentration of the LC(10 )value. Therefore, these proteins seem to be potential biomarkers for cadmium exposure in the aquatic ecosystems.