[Objectives]  To provide a scientific basis for improving traps used to control the thrip, Thrips hawaiiensis by investigating its response to different colors. [Methods]  Indoor selective tests using regular hexagonal devices determined T. hawaiiensis’s sensitivity to different colors and field studies conducted in banana plantations assessed the relative effectiveness of sticky card traps of 10 different colors. Moreover, the influence of different trap heights (50, 120 and 220 cm from the ground) and trap placements (parallel and perpendicular to the crop rows) of blue sticky cards were compared. [Results]  Blue cards captured significantly more T. hawaiiensis than other colors and those with a wavelength of 480 nm were the most attractive to T. hawaiiensis. The results of the field trials indicated that deep and light blue sticky cards trapped the most T. hawaiiensis, followed by yellow cards. Furthermore, hanging cards 220 cm from the ground and placing them in a south-north orientation was more effective. [Conclusion]  Taken together, these findings demonstrate that T. hawaiiensis was most sensitive to blue and suggests that blue sticky traps are superior to those of other colors for monitoring the population dynamics of this pest.