The pupation behaviour of the western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande)

Holmes, Neil D. and Bennison, Jude A. and Maulden, Kerry A. and Kirk, W. D. J. (2012) The pupation behaviour of the western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande). Acta Phytopathologica et Entomologica Hungarica, 47 (1). pp. 87-96. ISSN 0238-1249

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Abstract

The extent to which the western flower thrips pupates on or off the host plant in glasshouse crops determines the effectiveness of ground-based control methods. Glasshouse experiments with water traps, sticky traps and infra-red video recording in crops of cucumber and pot chrysanthemum, when average relative humidities were below 80%, showed that large numbers of second-instar larvae dropped to the ground to pupate. The percentage of larvae dropping rather than remaining on the plant was calculated to be 96–99% in cucumber and 92–99% in pot chrysanthemum. Experiments with water traps showed that most larvae dropped during the evening trapping period from 16.00 to 24.00 h for both crops in the glasshouse. The pattern was similar, but less marked, for pot chrysanthemum in a controlled-temperature laboratory at 25 °C and 80–95% relative humidity. Continuous infra-red video recording in a heavily infested cucumber crop showed there was a marked peak in dropping during a period of about 1–4 h each evening, with peak rates reaching 4,000 to 8,000 larvae m−2 h−1. The time of the peak drop varied between days, suggesting that an environmental cue is involved. Possibilities for exploiting this behaviour for control are discussed.

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