Variation within and between Frankliniella thrips species in host plant utilization
1USDA-ARS Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology, 6383 Mahan Dr., Tallahassee, FL 32308
2North Florida Research and Education Center University of Florida, 155 Research Rd., Quincy, FL 32351
3Current address: USDA-APHIS, 1730 Varsity Dr., Suite 400, Raleigh, NC 27606
Abstract
Anthophilous flower thrips in the genus Frankliniella (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) exploit ephemeral plant resources and therefore must be capable of successfully locating appropriate hosts on a repeated basis, yet little is known of interspecific and intraspecific variation in responses to host plant type and nutritional quality. Field trials were conducted over two seasons to determine if the abundance of males and females of three common Frankliniella species, F. occidentalis (Pergande), F. tritici (Fitch) and F. bispinosa (Morgan), their larvae, and a key predator, Orius insidiosus (Say) (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) were affected by host plant type and plant nutritional quality. Two host plants, pepper, Capsicum annuum L. (Solanales: Solanaceae) and tomato, Solanum lycopersicum L. that vary in suitability for these species were examined, and their nutritional quality was manipulated by applying three levels of nitrogen fertilization (101 kg/ha, 202 kg/ha, 404 kg/ha). F. occidentalis females were more abundant in pepper than in tomato, but males did not show a differential response. Both sexes of F. tritici and F. bispinosa were more abundant in tomato than in pepper. Larval thrips were more abundant in pepper than in tomato. Likewise, O. insidiosus females and nymphs were more abundant in pepper than in tomato. Only F. occidentalis females showed a distinct response to nitrogen fertilization, with abundance increasing with fertilization. These results show that host plant utilization patterns vary among Frankliniella spp. and should not be generalized from results of the intensively studied F. occidentalis. Given the different pest status of these species and their differential abundance in pepper and tomato, it is critical that scouting programs include species identifications for proper management.
Keywords: fertilization, flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis, Frankliniella tritici, Frankliniella bispinosa, host selection, Orius insidiosus, pepper, tomato
Correspondence:
a ignacio.baez@aphis.usda.gov,
b* stuart.reitz@ars.usda.gov,
c jef@ufl.edu,
d smolson@ufl.edu, *Corresponding author
Editor: TX Liu was Editor of this paper
Received: 3 March 2010 | Accepted: 10 August 2010 | Published: 6 April 2011
Copyright: This is an open access paper. We use the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license that permits unrestricted use, provided that the paper is properly attributed.
ISSN: 1536-2442 | Volume 11, Number 41
Baez I, Reitz SR, Funderburk JE, Olson SM. 2011. Variation within and between Frankliniella thrips species in host plant utilization. Journal of Insect Science 11:41 available online: insectscience.org/11.41
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