Thrips are a detachment of insect pests of plants, numbering several thousand species. They differ in a peculiar structure: extremely small sizes (from 0.5 to 1.5 mm), an elongated body, two pairs of narrow fringed wings not adapted for long flights.
Homeland of flower thrips
Flower California thrips is a quarantine pest of ornamental plants, fruits and vegetables. This attack comes from North America, and the parasite was brought to Europe in the 80s of the last century, when it was discovered in the greenhouses of Holland. At home, this insect is widespread along the western coast of the continent, which explains another of its popular names - western flower thrips. At present, this pest, due to its vitality and fertility, has already spread to all continents. Discovered in the early 90s in St. Petersburg, the flower thrips has not yet managed to capture the entire territory of Russia, but it has already been seen in many areas.
Features of nutrition and living conditions
The spectrum of destructionplants flower Californian thrips is very wide. The pest is practically omnivorous and damages hundreds of species of flower, fruit and berry and vegetable crops. These are cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, cotton, alfalfa, grapes, strawberries, fruit trees, roses, gerberas, cloves, cyclamens. Flower thrips feeds on plant cell sap, which, thanks to the piercing-sucking mouth apparatus, extracts from stems, leaves and fruits, as well as nectar and pollen in buds. As a result, the yield of fruit crops decreases, while the appearance of ornamental crops suffers greatly. Yellow dots appear on the leaves due to dead cells and a black scattering of excrement, flower buds are deformed and do not bloom, fruits do not set. The most numerous colonies of the parasite are capable of completely destroying the crop. This insect also carries viral diseases dangerous for plants. Flower thrips does not cause harm to humans - only economic damage. However, this damage can amount to millions of rubles!
Flower Californian thrips is a heat-loving insect and feels great at a temperature of 15-30º C. If the temperature drops below 9º C, the parasite stops reproducing and goes into hibernation, and if it rises to 35º C, its development stops. In the open ground in the temperate climate of the middle zone, the Californian thrips is not able to overwinter, but it is considered the most dangerous pest of protected ground. Greenhouses are a particularly fertile environment for insects, with the most suitable environment for its reproduction.temperature regime, moreover, it does not depend on climatic zones. In large greenhouse farms, it is problematic to completely destroy this parasite. At best, it is possible to keep the number of its colonies at a certain level, and then the damage will not be so significant. In this case, the harmfulness threshold is calculated for each crop separately.
Reproduction
In one year, under suitable conditions, 15-20 generations of the pest can replace each other. In just 4-5 days, the population of flower thrips can double. The life expectancy of one insect is 1.5-2 months. Females pierce various parts of plants and lay an average of about 100, and a maximum of about 300 eggs in them per month. After a few days, a larva emerges from the egg, which is a smaller copy of an adult, only without wings, and after two weeks the insect of the next generation is ready for reproduction.
Control measures
The main method of dealing with such a pest as flower thrips is preventive measures in the form of quarantine measures. It is necessary to check all plant products for infection: planting material, cuttings, potted plants, cut flowers. The easiest way to deal with flower thrips is in the off-season, when you can remove the plants, till the soil and greenhouses.
It must be said that highly toxic pesticides are not only environmentally hazardous, but in the case of this pest, they are alsouseless. It has a fairly high resistance to them, and the flower thrips leads a secretive lifestyle, hiding in buds, buds, under plant scales, thereby becoming invulnerable to chemical treatments. The biological method is considered the most effective: against flower thrips, its enemies are released: predatory bugs and ticks.
