Where are Chilli Thrips Hiding in Strawberry Fields? Right Here

Posted by Paul Rusnak|June 6, 2024

Among top stressors for strawberry growers is battling chilli thrips. This tiny insect can cause a lot of damage in fields if left unattended. So, what can be done? Knowing exactly when and where to apply pesticides in the field would help. A newly published study from University of Florida scientists gives growers a big advantage in the hide-and-seek game with the small but destructive pest.

In the study, UF/IFAS Assistant Professor of entomology Sriyanka Lahiri and her colleagues found chilli thrips prefer to aggregate in about a 100-meter radius outside the center of strawberry fields. But why there? Lahiri says it’s because in the field-border area, chilli thrips are close to adjacent woods, where they can easily live during the summer and reinfest during the next strawberry season. The graphic below illustrates this.

Chilli thrips location map graphic from UF/IFAS

Graphic courtesy of UF/IFAS

“Our findings are important to growers as they can now save money and time by having to spray a lower volume of insecticides in smaller portions of their field,” Lahiri says. “They can protect the beneficial insects in and around their field by doing this, which in turn will assist with maintaining more healthy strawberry plants.”

Specifically, growers should spray no closer than 100 meters – or about 330 feet of their field border. They should leave the rest of the field either untreated or manage it by using biological control agents, botanicals, and flowering plants.