Tomato thrips (Frankliniella schultzei). Small insect of the Family Thripidae , of elongated body, very active. They live in the aerial parts of the plant.
Summary
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- 1 Description
- 2 Hosts
- 3 General damages
- 1 Specific damage to some crops
- 4 Distribution
- 5 Biological control
- 6 Source
Description
The female is 1.1 to 1.3 mm long. Based on the coloration, two shapes can be recognized, one light and the other dark. The dark one has a dark brown body with the base of the third and fourth antennal segments lighter as well as part of the tibias and tarsi. The head is wider than it is long. The prothorax is also wider than it is long and has two pairs of conspicuous mushrooms on the anterior edge, on each posterior angle a pair of mushrooms also stands out . The male is somewhat smaller than the female and is yellowish brown in color.
Adults and nymphs are mainly located on flowers, although they also live on leaves. In the first instance they have a whitish coloration and then yellowish or orange yellow. The state of pupa and prepupa meet him on the floor. It is capable of living on a wide diversity of plants, including weeds, which often constitute an important reservoir for the species and from where it is transferred to crops.
The eight-segment antenna, with the apex of segment II and the pedicel of segment III simple. The interocellar mushrooms emerge along an imaginary line through the leading edges of the two rear ocelli. This feature easily separates F. schultzei from other dark Frankliniella species, such as F. fusca and F. insularis . Post-eye mushrooms are slightly shorter than interocellar mushrooms.
The anteroangular and anteromarginal setae are well developed. They are approximately equal in length. Posteromarginal mushrooms are slightly shorter than posteroangular mushrooms. They have two pairs of well-developed wings. The comb in the eighth abdominal segment is very poorly developed, consisting of short and sparse microshetas.
Hosts
Soybeans , cotton , lettuce , potatoes, peppers , beans, tobacco, tomatoes , citrus fruits , onions , in addition to ornamental plants such as gladiolus , weeds and spontaneous plants such as morning glory and wild radish .
General damages
They feed on the sap, which they extract by means of their mouth-sucking scraper apparatus. By breaking the cells, the sap oxidizes with air, giving the affected part that burnt or toasted appearance. They also cause wilting of the leaves and sometimes deformations.
Specific damage to some crops
In Vine the damages are produced in tender organs, even in their primordia, which when developing manifest important injuries, such as tears, alterations in the growth of leaves, flowers and fruits, russeting in fruits and necrosis in tender leaves. Females embed the eggs in the berries, marking them with a visible pinpoint lesion. The damages can become significant and important only in vines intended for fresh consumption, especially that can affect the cosmetic value of the bunch. In vinification vines they can seriously affect the foliage (apical leaves) in midsummer with the consequent loss of growth of the shoots. On tobaccodamage can range from seedling to flowering, and is caused by both the larval stage and adults. When feeding they produce characteristic silver spots. These direct damages are not significant, its importance lies in the fact that it is a transmitter of the virus that causes the tobacco buck.
Distribution
South America, India , Africa , Australia and other areas of the southern hemisphere, it is also found in certain parts of Europe . Generally found in tropical and subtropical areas. The dark form occurs worldwide and is also known from Florida