Plague thrips Thrips imaginis

Plague thrips are pests of lettuce, beans, tomatoes, cucurbits and stone and pome fruit. Plague thrips are relatively small thrips with females ranging in size from 1.1mm to 1.3mm.

On stone and pome fruit, plague thrips are the most commonly found thrips during the flowering period. Late in the season, plague thrips tend to feed in protected places on fruit and often between fruits or under leaves. Feeding damage shows as small silver patches on leaves, where the cell contents have been removed. On coloured petals, white/silver patches can appear where the pigment has been removed. Feeding damage to young developing buds can result in stunted or deformed flowers, while feeding damage towards the end of flowering will result in stunted or deformed fruit.

Plague thrips can be controlled by Orius, Cucumeris and Hypo-M.