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Description: Western flower thrips are about 1/32 inch long, with females larger than males. Females vary from yellow to dark brown, and have a more rounded abdomen. Males are always pale yellow and have a narrower abdomen.
Damage:
Life cycle:
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PEST PROFILES: RASPING INSECTS
Click on image to view larger. Western flower thrips
Description:
Western flower thrips are about 1/32 inch long, with females larger than males. Females vary from yellow to dark brown, and have a more rounded abdomen. Males are always pale yellow and have a narrower abdomen.Damage:
Thrips feed on flowers and foliage. Oviposition and feeding scars reduce the aesthetic quality and marketability of ornamental plants. Western flower thrips are an important vector of tomato spotted wilt virus and impatiens necrotic spot virus.Life cycle:
Eggs oviposited in tender plant tissue and hatch in 2 to 14 days. First instars feed on egg shell remnants; second instars feed on plant tissue. Late in the second instar they stop feeding and move down the plant to pupate. Thrips develop through two quiescent, non-feeding pupal stages in the soil, plant litter or in a protected area on the plant. Adults emerge and resume feeding on flowers, buds, and terminal foliage. The entire life cycle from oviposition to adult emergence can take 12 days in hot weather to 44 days in cool weather.