UC IPM Online UC ANR home page UC IPM home page

UC IPM Home

Search

SKIP navigation
How to Manage Pests

Home & garden
Agriculture
Natural environments
Exotic & invasive

Weather data & products
Degree-days
Interactive tools & models

Identification Galleries

Natural enemies
Weeds

Educational Resources

Publications & more
Workshops and events
Training programs
Pesticide information

Research and IPM

Grants programs
Funded-project results

 
  Printer-friendly version

How to Manage Pests

UC Pest Management Guidelines

| More pests | More crops | About guidelines |

Adult bean thrips.

Asparagus

Thrips

Scientific Names:
Bean thrips: Caliothrips faciatus
Onion thrips: Frankliniella sp.

(Reviewed 11/05, updated 6/09)

In this Guideline:

DESCRIPTION OF THE PESTS

Thrips are small, slender insects with mouthparts developed primarily for sucking and rasping. The adults measure about 0.04 inch (1 mm) in length and have two pairs of narrow wings that are fringed with hairs. Immature thrips are wingless, whitish to yellowish in color. Adults emerge continuously throughout the warm months. Adults and immatures may be found in asparagus ferns at any time during the summer and fall when ferns are growing. Eggs are deposited in plant tissue and hatching occurs in about 5 days during the summer months; the immature stages take about 5 to 7 days to complete development.

DAMAGE

Thrips are most noticeable and of greatest concern on young seedling plants but can severely damage mature ferns of asparagus. Their feeding will make the plants look ragged, cause the ferns to turn yellowish gray, and can cause the cladophylls (branchlets) to drop. Thrips remove moisture from the fern, causing a shortening and twisting of the cladophylls as well as some twisting of the stalks. This results in a loss of crop vigor and even the death of the tops of small seedlings.

Thrips tend to be a problem mainly from April to June in the Delta area when surrounding crops and weeds begin to dry, causing thrips to seek more succulent vegetation. Thrips attack all plantings of asparagus but are particularly injurious to asparagus crown nurseries, direct-seeded new plantings, seedling transplanted fields, and new 1-year-old crown plantings because these plantings are in fern when the thrips are immigrating in from surrounding fields in midspring.

In the Imperial Valley, bean thrips attacks ferns during summer and can cause severe damage, even in mature stands. Further, the stress of losing foliage during summer makes the crops more susceptible to attack from Fusarium sp.

MANAGEMENT

Good weed management in the asparagus field and surrounding crops and areas is an important aspect of managing thrips. Monitor young plantings in mid-spring for thrips when the fern is present and flowering. Treatments later in the season for European asparagus aphid control thrips.

Organically Acceptable Methods
Weed management in and around the field and sprays of the Entrust formulation of spinosad are acceptable for use in organically managed fields.

Common name Amount/Acre** R.E.I.+ P.H.I.+
(trade name)   (hours) (days)
The following materials are listed in order of usefulness in an IPM program, taking into account efficacy, information related to natural enemies and honey bees and environmental impact. Not all registered pesticides are listed. Always read label of product being used.
 
A. DISULFOTON*
  (Di-Syston) 8EC 1 pt 11 days see comments
  MODE OF ACTION GROUP NUMBER1: 1B
  COMMENTS: Apply to fern stage of asparagus when thrips infestation appears; allow at least 6 months between last application and harvest. Do not exceed 2 applications/year. Use allowed under 24(c) supplemental label.
 
B. SPINOSAD
  (Entrust)# 1.25–2 oz 4 see comments
  (Success) 4–6 fl oz 4 see comments
  MODE OF ACTION GROUP NUMBER1: 5
  COMMENTS: Make applications only to asparagus ferns. Do not apply more than 0.28 lb a.i./acre/crop.
 
C. PYRETHRIN AND ROTENONE
  (Pyrellin EC) 1–2 pt 12 12 hours
  MODE OF ACTION GROUP NUMBER1: 3 and 21
  COMMENTS: Apply in intervals of 7 days or less and repeat as necessary. Not as effective as other materials.
 
** See label for dilution rates.
+ Restricted entry interval (R.E.I.) is the number of hours (unless otherwise noted) from treatment until the treated area can be safely entered without protective clothing. Preharvest interval (P.H.I.) is the number of days from treatment to harvest. In some cases the REI exceeds the PHI. The longer of two intervals is the minimum time that must elapse before harvest.
* Permit required from county agricultural commissioner for purchase or use.
1 Rotate chemicals with a different mode-of-action Group number, and do not use products with the same mode-of-action Group number more than twice per season to help prevent the development of resistance. For example, the organophosphates have a Group number of 1B; chemicals with a 1B Group number should be alternated with chemicals that have a Group number other than 1B. Mode of action Group numbers are assigned by IRAC (Insecticide Resistance Action Committee). For additional information, see their Web site at http://www.irac-online.org/.
# Acceptable for use on organically grown produce.

[Precautions]

PUBLICATION

[UC Peer Reviewed]

UC IPM Pest Management Guidelines: Asparagus
UC ANR Publication 3435
Insects
E. T. Natwick, UC Cooperative Extension, Imperial County
Acknowledgment for contributions to Insects:
R. J. Mullen, UC Cooperative Extension, San Joaquin County
W. E. Chaney, UC Cooperative Extension, Monterey County
C. B. Fouche, UC Cooperative Extension, San Joaquin County

Top of page

Statewide IPM Program, Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of California
All contents copyright © 2009 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

For noncommercial purposes only, any Web site may link directly to this page. FOR ALL OTHER USES or more information, read Legal Notices. Unfortunately, we cannot provide individual solutions to specific pest problems. See How to manage pests, or in the U.S., contact your local Cooperative Extension office for assistance. /PMG/r7300211.html revised: September 23, 2009. Contact webmaster.