Are the leaves on your plant stippled or silvered and covered with small black dots of excrement? This damage could be caused by thrips, which are tiny, slender insects with fringed wings. Thrips may also pucker or gall leaves and scar flowers or fruit. There are many species of thrips. Some feed on a broad range of plant species, others specialize on a few plants, and still other species feed on insects or mites and are beneficial in landscapes and gardens. Managing thrips is challenging and requires an IPM program that relies on multiple strategies. Learn more about thrips and their management in a newly revised publication Pest Notes: Thrips authored by Jim Bethke, UCCE San Diego; Steve Dreistadt, UC IPM Program, and Lucia Varela, UC IPM and UCCE Sonoma.
Author - Associate Director for Urban & Community IPM/ Area Urban IPM Advisor