Thrips Fauna in North Carolina Agroecosystems

Abstract

Thrips were surveyed in 1991 and 1992 from crops and adjacent weeds in five agricultural areas in North Carolina. They were collected by beating foliage and flowers and by using 0.16 m² white sticky traps placed 1.5 and 7 m above ground. Approximately 39,000 thrips were collected and identified. On dicotyledonous crops and weeds and on monocotyledonous weeds, Frankliniella tritici was the most common species. On monocotyledonous crops, Limothrips cerealiun was the most common species. On wild plants, F. tritici was the most abundant species in every 2-mo collection period except January and February, when F. fusca was predominant. The percentage of western flower thrips (WFT) was relatively low in the Eastern and Western Piedmont areas. On sticky traps the most abundant species was F. tritici. On the traps located 7 m above ground, F. tritici exhibited a bimodal distribution with peaks of abundance in May and September. On traps located 1.5 m above ground, WFT was relatively common from April through September.