Thrips favor hot and dry weather
Print
Email
Editor’s note: This article is from the archives of the MSU Crop Advisory Team Alerts. Check the label of any pesticide referenced to ensure your use is included.
Hot and dry weather conditions are favorable for rapid increases of thrips
populations. Adult thrips are very small (ca. 1/16 inch), yellowish,
slender and have fringed wings. The immatures look like small wingless
adults. Thrips reproduce very rapidly at high temperatures, and we may
have five to eight generations per year.
Thrips have “rasping sucking” mouthparts and feed by scraping the surface of
leaves and sucking plant juices, reducing photosynthetic capacity.
Thrips prefer tight spaces and tend to spend most of their time hidden
between leaves. This behavior makes it difficult for insecticides to
come into contact with the insect. Use adequate gallonage and pressure
when spraying insecticides to increase chemical contact with the insect.
Extension bulletin E-12 lists registered insecticides for thrips control.
