Minute pirate bug for western flower thrips
In UF/IFAS work on pepper, one minute pirate bug to about 180 thrips suppressed the population and one to about 40–50 held it below the economic threshold. The bug takes adult thrips, which predatory mites do not, and lives on pollen, so it can go in as soon as a crop flowers. It stops breeding in short days, and Koppert advises pairing it with predatory mites and keeping it out of tomato.
Before you order
Released into flowering crops against thrips. It is one of the few predators that takes adult thrips, and it lives on pollen when prey is scarce. It is also a common wild predator outdoors. How it works, how to tell it has established and the supplier list are on the full Orius insidiosus profile.
How many do I need?
Area and infestation level in; quantity, cost and a weekly schedule out. Open the calculator →
Other controls for western flower thrips
- Amblyseius cucumerisPredatory mite · 50–100 /m² per release (Koppert); UC IPM: 10–50 mites per plant, weekly; or sachets
- Orius laevigatusPredatory bug · 0.5–1 /m² preventive once the crop flowers; 5–10 /m² in and around hot spots
- Amblyseius swirskiiPredatory mite · 25 /m² preventive, 50 at first detection, 100–300 on hot spots (Cornell); sachets repeated after four weeks
- Stratiolaelaps scimitusPredatory mite · 100–500 /m² of compost surface per release (Koppert); once at planting (UConn) or repeated once or twice (Koppert)
- Metarhizium brunneum strain F52Microbial — insect-killing fungus · Label rate — granules 1.5–3 lb per cubic yard of potting mix; liquid drench 4–8 fl oz per 10 gal
- Beauveria bassiana strain GHAMicrobial insecticide (fungus) · Label rate — 1–2 qt per 100 gal (BotaniGard ES / Mycotrol ES) or 1–2 lb (22WP)