With the progressive reduction in the use of insecticides demanded by society, and an increasing need to be better stewards of natural areas, it becomes ever more important to understand the relationships between insects such as thrips on wild vegetation and those that affect crops and ornamental landscape plantings. This training workshop will enable participants to better understand and identify thrips that may pose major economic threats or are important from a biodiversity standpoint. This workshop will focus on the species diversity of thrips in California (native, exotic, and potential invasive species of economic importance), and the biology and ecology of these species.

 
Objectives:

1. Within the context of California's rich Thysanoptera fauna, the workshop will provide training on the identification of thrips of significance to cropping systems and those that are incursion threats.
2. To provide training in technical methods including slide preparation and best-practice microscope study.
3. To provide training in the use of the latest computer driven identification system for the thrips of California. To fulfill this objective a newly developed CD-ROM entitled “Thrips of California” will be provided to all participants.
4. To provide an opportunity for participants to learn from some of the world’s most experienced researchers about the wide range of biologies among thrips species.

Workshop Format: The workshop will be technical, hands on, and laboratory based. It will involve training in good slide making, field collecting and record keeping, and identification techniques using a new computer driven Lucid Key developed specifically for identifying thrips of importance to California and the western USA. Identification sessions using the Lucid Key will be periodically punctuated with informal interactive talks about aspects of thrips biology that individual participants indicate are of interest. Possible discussion areas could include but will not be limited to: invasion dynamics, the role of thrips as biological control agents, control and monitoring strategies, mating behavior, selection factors that drive sexual dimorphism, and the role of thrips as pollinators.

The Lucid Key – “Thrips of California”: This is the first overview of a major part of the North American Thysanoptera fauna in more than 40 years. The Lucid Key summarizes all information available on 250 species of native and exotic Californian thrips together with a further 12 species that are potential invaders. The CD-ROM provides an identification system to 207 of these species illustrated with about 1,500 high quality photomicrographs. Also included is a novel interactive glossary of technical terms concerning thrips morphology.

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Workshop Dates: Monday September 8 to Thursday September 11 2008. Instructors will be available for additional work on the morning of Friday September 12 2008 if needed.

Location and Directions: University of California, Riverside Extension Center, 1200 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92507-4596. Phone: (951) 827-4105 (www.extension.ucr.edu). The nearest airport is Ontario International Airport (www.lawa.org/ont/), a 40 minute drive from the Extension Center.

Registration Fees: No more than $300 (US) per person. At a minimum this registration will cover slide making material costs, room and microscope rental, a copy of the Lucid CD-ROM entitled “Thrips of California”, and morning and afternoon breaks.

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Limited Registration: The course will be restricted to 15 people to ensure adequate tuition and instruction can be provided to all participants.

Equipment to Bring: All workshop participants must bring laptop computers to operate the Lucid Key to the Thrips of California that will be supplied as a CD-ROM. Laptops must have: (1) Capacity to run a CD-ROM, and (2) a recent version of a web browser such as Internet Explorer, Firefox or Safari. The system is fully compatible for Mac and IBM machines.

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Accommodation & Meals: UC Riverside Extension Center has reserved a block of 15 self-contained non-smoking rooms for workshop participants at a cost of $50 (US) per night.

For more information and reservations contact:

 Amal Houck, International Residence Center (IRC) Coordinator

UC Riverside Extension, 1200 University Ave., Riverside, CA 92507 -- USA

Phone: 1 (951) 827-1708

Fax: 1 (951) 827-5796

Email: ahouck@ucx.ucr.edu

Website: http://iep.ucr.edu

 
The Extension Center has a restaurant for meals. Immediately across the road from the Center is University Village, with a range of restaurants (Sushi, Burgers, Vietnamese, Mexican etc) and cafes (e.g., Starbucks).

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