The purpose of this travel to the USA was to visit the US Department of Agriculture Arid-land Research Center during 16 May – 31 May 2014. Supervised by Dr. James Hagler, to learn the protocols for Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), and how to use this technique to identify the presence of pests in the gut of natural predators in cotton fields.

ELISA is a very sensitive test that detects the presence of a specific protein using antibody tagging. These specific proteins can be used to mark prey items (pests), which can then be identified in the gut-content of a predator (beneficial in cotton fields). We evaluated two methods: indirect ELISA and “sandwich” ELISA; and two protein marks: rabbit and chicken IgG. There was a difference in the detectability of the protein tags in different pest preys. Whitefly marks were difficult to detect, regardless of the method of application, while small topical marks on the tarnished bug Lygus spp showed positive in the assays.