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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Gainesville, Florida » Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology » Insect Behavior and Biocontrol Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #212591
Title: Cycles of Frankliniella spp. thrips abundance on North Florida uncultivated reproductive hosts: Predicting possible sources of pest outbreaks

Author
item NORTHFIELD, TOBIN - UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
item PAINI, DEAN - UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
item FUNDERBURK, JOE - UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
item REITZ, STUART

Submitted to: Annals of the Entomological Society of America
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/6/2008
Publication Date: 7/1/2008
Citation: Northfield, T.D., Paini, D.R., Funderburk, J.E., Reitz, S.R. 2008. Annual cycles of Frankliniella spp. thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) abundance on North Florida uncultivated reproductive hosts: Predicting possible sources of pest outbreaks. Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 101:769-778.

Interpretive Summary: Frankliniella flower thrips are serious pests of a wide variety of crops. These thrips migrate into cropping systems from adjacent weedy vegetation. Therefore in order to better understand the population dynamics of thrips within crops it is necessary to understand their spatial and temporal dynamics in non-crop habitats. In order to determine potential sources of Frankliniella spp. thrips, scientists with USDA-ARS Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology and the University of Florida evaluated cycles of abundance on seven uncultivated reproductive hosts over time. Thrips always were highly aggregated in flowers, rather than on leaves or fruits, and thrips were generally only collected when plants were flowering. Wild radish Raphanus raphanistrum supported large populations of thrips, and may be an important link between thrips populations in the spring and fall. Goldenrod Solidago canadensis also supported large populations in the fall, and may be a source of thrips populations migrating into cropping systems the following spring. Determining how thrips utilize different hosts over time will lead to a better understanding of the processes of how and when thrips will invade crop fields.

Technical Abstract: Frankliniella spp. thrips damage a wide variety of crops, feed on a broad range of hosts, and often migrate into cropping systems from adjacent vegetation. In order to determine potential sources of Frankliniella spp. thrips, cycles of abundance of F. occidentalis (Pergande), F. fusca (Hinds), F. bispinosa (Morgan) and F. tritici (Fitch) were evaluated on seven uncultivated reproductive hosts. These hosts included Raphanus raphanistrum L., Rubus trivialis Michx., Rubus cuneifolius Pursh., Vicia sativa L., Trifolium repens L., Solidago canadensis L. and Chenopodium ambrosioides L. Thrips were collected from R. cuneifolius and T. repens in the spring, R. raphanistrum in the summer, and C. ambrosioides and S. canadensis in the fall. The most frequently collected species was F. tritici, and a fifth species, Pseudothrips inequalis (Beach), was collected in the fall on C. ambrosioides and S. canadensis. All thrips species were highly aggregated in the flowers or flower racemes, rather than in leaves or fruits, and thrips were generally only collected when plants were flowering. R. raphanistrum supported large populations of thrips, and may be an important link between thrips populations in the spring and fall. In addition, it may be an enemy free host, as only one O. insidiosus, a common thrips predator, was collected throughout the summer. S. canadensis also supported large populations in the fall, and may be a source of thrips populations migrating into cropping systems the following spring. Controlling thrips on these and other hosts in their respective seasons may limit the number of thrips migrating into cropping systems.