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VFT Pest

This evening I noticed some tiny little yellow things on the inside of my traps. They would probably be white but in contrast with the red on the inside of the traps they were clearly yellow.

They appeared to move like maggots and looked a little like tiny maggots but on closer inspection they had legs.

Anyone know what these could be? Thrips? I spot treated wherever I found them with some GardenSafe Insecticide and it appeared to kill them on contact.
 
Mites probably. 20x magnification would confirm the ID.

The scourge of my Dionaea. Repeat spraying as often as recommended by the directions. If they are mites make sure the pesticide is recommended for mites.
 
Will do. I'll try to get a pic of any remaining insects tomorrow. They stay pretty stationary until you poke or prod them. Then they scurry to the recesses of the VFT for protection.
 
Sounds more like aphids to me ?
 
No they weren't aphids, although I did find 3 aphids. 2 on my VFT Red Dragon flower stalk and one on one of my D. filiformis flower stalks. Unless these are pupea of some sort?

Actually, I just looked up pics of aphid pupae and they look strikingly similar. I'll see if I can't get a pic tomorrow to compare.

http://hortchat.com/images/Aphids.jpg
 
If they're that big then they are probably not mites. Mites move slowly.
 
Actually, they look a little more like this....
thrips_damage.jpg


Waiting on batteries to charge to take a pic...

I have never really have many pest issues so sorry if this is a common id.

Here we go...
vftpest2.jpg


for scale...
vftpest1.jpg
 
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Yeah, looks like thrips. Difficult to control. Neem oil and pyrethrin aren't all that effective. Spinosad is your best bet. Look for Conserve, Green Light Lawn & Garden Spray Spinosad, Monterey Garden Insect Spray. The smaller chain garden centers carry Monterey. I haven't seen it at Lowe's or Home Depot. Their website has a store locater. Spinosad has minimal impact on most beneficial insects. Try local nurseries too.

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/QT/thripscard.html
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7429.html
 
Thanks NaN. I have a mom and pop garden center down the street that carries quite a bit of stuff. Hopefully I can find some.

I think I may have gotten them because I put my tomato, watermelon, and cantelope starts on the table with my CPs. The tomato leaves have visible insect damage. This 'Clumping Cultivar' VFT is right next to them.
 
  • #10
Your local might be able to special order it if their suppliers carry it. It's a concentrate so you can use a hose sprayer on your garden.
 
  • #11
Thrips are a pain, they hide, they suck etc... A little tip to make them a bit more active when the are hiding is to gently breath on the flower/plant in question. They ususally scurry around right after and are easier to spot if your wondering about them still being there.
 
  • #12
Yeah, I noticed they are pretty skiddish. Dang things wouldn't stay still for me to squish them with my squishing twig, so I brought out the chemical weapons.
 
  • #13
Thrips also spend part of their life-cycle inside the plant tissue which makes it difficult to control them with chemicals.
 
  • #14
I ended up getting the only product I could find. I felt I couldn't wait any longer. My 'Clumping Cultivar' was starting to look really poor. Yellowish leaves, faint red inside the traps. And the leaves and flowers were totally infested with thrips. They seem to really like flowers.

Ferti-Lome brand Borer, Bagworm, Tent Caterpillar & Leafminer Spray.
ACTIVE INGREDIENTS
Spinosad (mixture of Spinosyn A and Spinosyn D) .....0.5%
Other Ingredients ...............................................99.5%

I followed the mixing instructions for houseplants/shrubs as it was a concentrate and applied to the VFTs in which I observed thrips. I'll check back in a few days. If all goes well, i'll open up the regimine to all of my VFTs.
 
  • #15
Update: After two applications, the VFT have perked up and I see no thrips currently. I'll continue to monitor and reapply as necessary.

Thanks for the input guys!
 
  • #16
Good to hear this appears to have been effective for you. Time will tell.
 
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