Hey guys! My Flavor Punch Pluerry is waking up and I have these bugs on it. Should I be worried and if so what should my next steps be?
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Do they jump away quickly if you try to touch them? They look like some kind of springtail to me. If so, they are eating pollen and not a problem. But the ones I’ve got here look a little different. I posted photos here, I usually see them around the flowers or in the leaf litter under the trees, but sometimes on the leaves like this:
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I really don’t know ?
But flower thrips come to mind .
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I, too, suggest thrips. The adult stage is nectar/pollen seeking and not that damaging. It’s the nymph stage that leaves scars on fruit.
I have sprayed Spinosad at the end of flowering and then covered young fruitlets with footies for effective control. A lot of work but you get beautiful fruit!
Western Flower Thrips
- Frankliniella occidentalis
On This Page
Description of the Pest
Western flower thrips adults are minute insects, about 0.03 inch long, with two pairs of fringed wings. The adult has three color forms that vary in abundance depending on the time of year. There is a pale form that is white and yellow, except for slight brown spots or blemishes on the top of the abdomen; an intermediate color form with an orange thorax and brown abdomen; and a dark form that is dark brown. The intermediate form is present throughout the year, but in spring the dark form predominates while the pale form is most abundant at other times throughout the year.
First-instar nymphs are opaque or light yellow, turning to golden yellow after the first molt. The nymphal stage lasts from 5 to 20 days.
Damage
Nymphs hatch and feed in numbers on tiny fruit, often under the drying calyx or flower parts. Their feeding scars the surface of the fruit. These scars enlarge as the fruit grows, and may cause fruit deformity.
Although some feeding does take place on blossoms, little damage results until fruit forms. Thrips can damage terminal shoots and cause them to stop growing. Usually one to two small dead leaves cling to the terminal. Buds just below the terminal grow, giving the branch a bushy appearance.
Management
Western flower thrips overwinter as adults in weeds, grasses, alfalfa, and other hosts, either in the orchard floor or nearby. In early spring, if overwintering sites are disturbed or dry up, thrips migrate to flowering trees and plants and deposit eggs in the tender portions of the host plant, e.g., shoots, buds, and flower parts.
Cultural Control
Thrips are often attracted to weeds blooming on the orchard floor. To prevent driving thrips into the trees, do not disc the cover crop when trees are in bloom. Open, weedy land adjacent to orchards should be disced as early as possible to prevent thrips development and migration of adults into orchards.
Organically Acceptable Methods
Cultural controls, clean cultivation, and sprays of the Entrust formulation of spinosad are organically acceptable tools.
Monitoring and Treatment Decisions
Begin monitoring thrips as individual blocks begin to bloom (see EARLY SEASON MONITORING). Monitor for thrips by examining one blossom from 50 trees located throughout the orchard. Slap the flower in the palm of your hand and look for dislodged adult thrips or use a light yellow background to hit the flowers against. Often nymphs are not dislodged by the slapping method so also dissect individual flowers and examine them with a hand lens for nymphs. First instar nymphsare white in color and often difficult to see, so be sure to check carefully. Check a minimum of 50 flowers per orchard for nymphs. In warm springs, adults will often migrate in and out of a block without being detected so it is important to always sample for nymphs.
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Yes, thrips.
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Thanks guys! I sprayed Spinosad last night on my other trees and on the remaining swelling buds, but not the open flowers. I saw on YouTube from a university channel (?) that 10 per strawberry flower is enough for treatment.