Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Thrips
These pests include pear thrip and western flower thrip. Despite their names,
thrips attack a wide range of fruit hosts across North America. Thrips are
tiny, about 0.05 inch long, and range from nearly black to brown to straw-
colored. The adults and nymphs feed primarily on flowers and can damage
and deform them. They also feed on developing fruits, causing cosmetic stip-
pling and small scars. The late-season damage they do to cherries leaves sil-
very rings where the cherries touch each other.
Thrips live on flowering plants in and around the orchard. Even in a clean,
well-managed orchard, these pests can fly in from surrounding areas. One
effective strategy is to focus pesticide treatments on the perimeter tree fruit
rows or trap crop rows. Avoid mowing or cultivating the orchard during
bloom, so as not to drive more thrips into your trees. Apply azadirachtin
and spinosad products beginning at petal fall. Later in the season, lacewings
and pirate bugs should provide adequate control in most orchards. It may
be helpful to make mid- and late-season applications of azadirachtin or
spinosad products to late-maturing varieties of cherries such as 'Lapins' and
'Sweetheart'.
Earwigs are minor, but common, pests in orchards and are easily recog-
nized by the prominent pincer-like structures at the end of their abdomens.
They are opportunistic, usually night, feeders, and they prey on soft-bodied
insects as well as decaying vegetation. They also feed on ripening and over-
ripe fruit, leaving shallow, irregular holes. Earwigs emit a foul-smelling liquid
when alarmed and can contaminate fruit during harvest.
Control earwigs by keeping vegetation and debris away from the base of
the trees and generally following good sanitation practices. Harvest ripe fruit
promptly, and remove overripe and cull fruit from the orchard. Applying a
sticky wrap (Tanglefoot) around the trunks can prevent adults and juven-
iles from climbing into the trees at night. When earwigs become a problem,
spinosad products are recommended for organic control. Because they help
manage aphids, psylla, and leafcurling midge early in the season, delay con-
trolling earwigs, if needed, until a few weeks before harvest.
