Scirtothrips Dorsalis

Class: Insects
Common Name: Thrips and chili thrips
Scientific Name: Scirtothrips dorsalis
Potential Host:

Peppers, blueberry, citrus, grapevines, peanuts, tea, mango, cotton, and roses

Who Am I?

Thrips are small, elusive, fast maneuvering and a highly polyphagous. It is an economically important pest for ornamental plants, vegetables, and fruit crops. Thrips feed on actively growing plant tissues, where you’ll usually find them.

Symptoms include upward curling and the distortion of new foliage, with a brown zipper-like scarring of buds, flowers, and fruits.

Control Measures

Monitoring: prevent damage by scouting your field on a weekly basis to catch infestation in its initial stage.

Growing inside structures: the most effective way to protect your crop from chilli thrips is simply (but costly) growing your crops inside a greenhouse or a dense (50 Mesh) net structure.

Sanitation: Try keeping your crop’s close surroundings and environmental conditions as neat as you can by removing weeds and nearby (non-cultivated and unprotected) plants that can attract thrips.

The following are insecticides used in one or more parts of the world: abamectin and emamectin benzoate.

Spinosad-based products

*Names marked in red are considered to be highly poisonous to beneficial insects.

*Names marked in green are considered to be organic and IPM (integrated pest management) compatible.

Caution and careful notice should be taken when using any plant protection products (insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides). It is the grower’s sole responsibility to keep track of the legal uses and permissions with respect to the laws in their country and destination markets. Always read the instructions written on labels, and in a case of contradiction, work in accordance to the product label. Keep in mind that information written on the label usually applies to local markets. Pest control products intended for organic farming are generally considered to be less effective in comparison to conventional products. When dealing with organic, biologic, and to some extent a small number of conventional chemical products, a complete eradication of a pest or disease will often require several iterations of a specific treatment or combination of treatments.

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