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Frankliniella occidentalis

Western Flower Thrips
Type:Insect
Binomial:Frankliniella occidentalis
Order: Thysanoptera
Diseases vectored:Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus

The Western Flower Thrips is a major agricultural and garden pest, affecting hundreds of cultivated and weedy species. Aside from damage due to feeding, its ability to act as a vector for viruses makes it particularly problematic.

Description

Very small, oblong insects.

Symptoms and Signs

Puncture holes, silvering, yellowing, or browning of plant parts, eventually leaves and flower parts die off and drop.

Ecology

Host plants

Crops attacked by this pest include beans, burdock (gobo), capsicum, cucumber, eggplant, lettuce, onion, tomatoes and watermelon. Ornamental crops include carnation, chrysanthemum, orchids, pikake, rose and tuberose. Refer to Yudin et al., (1986) for a listing of hosts in the vegetable-growing region of Kula, Maui.

Control

  • Barriers: Interrows of non-host species, row covers
  • Predators and parasites: Bugs including Orius tristicolor (Minute Pirate Bug), Orius persequens, Orius insidiosus, and Paratriphleps laevisculus, predatory thrips including Franklinothrips vespiformi, lacewings including Chrysoperla carnea

References

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