Several viruses have been reported to infect lettuce. The most important is Lettuce mosaic virus (LMV), a potyvirus found worldwide transmitted by seeds and aphids, in a non-persistent manner. LMV causes quite variable symptoms, including mosaic, dwarfing, failure to form proper heads, and sometimes necrotic reactions. Cultivars carrying the mo11 and mo12 genes have resistance to the common str...

Although thrips are globally important crop pests and vectors of viral disease, species identifications are difficult because of their small size and inconspicuous morphological differences. Sequence variation in the mitochondrial COI-5' (DNA barcode) region has proven effective for the identification of species in many groups of insect pests. We analyzed barcode sequence variation among 471 th...

Th e interactions between parasites and their hosts can cause profound changes in host behavior, including changes that can alter other trophic interactions. Th e western fl ower thrips Frankliniella occidentalis is an important omnivorous insect vector of Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV), which infects crops worldwide and also infects its thrips vector. Here, we show that tospovirus-infected f...

Adult vial technique (AVt) and spray table bioassays were conducted to evaluate toxicity of selected insecticides against immature and adult thrips, Frankliniella spp. (thysanoptera: thripidae). In AVt, technical insecticides comprised of organophosphates (dicrotophos and methamidophos), spinosyn (spinosad) and neonicotinoids (thiamethoxam and imidacloprid) were used. the LC50 values for contac...

In a 2-yr study, the impacts of different plastic soil mulches, insecticides, and predator releases on Frankliniella thrips and their natural enemies were investigated in field-grown peppers. Ultraviolet light (UV)-reflective mulch significantly reduced early season abundance of adult thrips compared with standard black plastic mulch. This difference diminished as the growing seasons progressed...

Several species of flower thrips, including the Florida flower thrips {Frankliniella bispinosa (Morgan)}, Western flower thrips {F. occidentalis (Pergande)}, Eastern flower thrips {F. tritici (Fitch)}, and Scritothrips ruthveni Shull, have recently become known as pests of cultivated blueberries (Spiers et al. 2004). The three Franklinella species are pests of both rabbiteye and southern highbu...

An illustrated key is provided for the identification of 65 genera of Thripinae from South East Asia. Wherever possible notes are given on the host-plant associations and geographical distributions, and suggestions made concerning phylogenetic relationships. The combination Taeniothrips euophthalmos Moulton is re-established.

The feeding habits of thrips on plant tissue, and their ability to transmit viral diseases to their host plants, have usually placed these insects in the general category of pests. However, the characteristics that make them economically important, their high abundance and shortand long-distance movement capability, may also make them effective pollinators. We investigated this lesser-known rol...

A new species from the genus Cosmolaelaps, with potential to control western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), were collected litter and remains of plant material on soil different rose greenhouses in The Netherlands. Collected specimens used initiate a laboratory colony. Subsequently, sample mites developmental stages analysed morphologically, by m...

Twenty-eight greenhouse screening materials, with predetermined airflow resistance values, were evaluated for exclusion of the silverleaf whitefly Bemisia argentifolii Perring & Bellows and thrips from a mixed-species population. Screens differed in exclusion efficacy, expressed as a percentage of the fiberglass window screen control and at an approach velocity of 92 m/min, from -35 to 94% for ...