Some growers have mentioned that keeping peppers picked off the plants is tedious and time consuming. Releases should be made when two-spotted spider mite populations are low or first detected. Thrips are tiny insects with fringed wings that can range in size from 0.5mm to up to 14mm [1], although most are only about 1mm in length with slender bodies. C. C. Childers and D. S. Achor, “Structure of the mouthparts of Frankliniella bispinosa (Morgan) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae).,” in Proceedings of the International Conference on Thrips, Radnor, PA, 1989. Regular repeated releases are needed. Releasing: Broadcast into the crop canopy especially in thrips hotspots. Transplant the plugs into larger sized pots (10 inch) so that the grass plants have plenty of room to grow. The most distinctive characteristic of thrips is two pairs of wings that are fringed with long hairs. They are voracious predators that can kill any mobile stage of thrips that they encounter. Research in Canada reported that the cultivar 'Purple Flash' was more effective as a banker plant than the ornamental pepper variety 'Black Pearl'. They are beneficial pathogens that include fungi, bacteria and viruses. Each species requires different environmental conditions. The commercially available biological control agents and the Western flower thrips life stages that are susceptible to predation are presented in Figure 1. Parasitized pupae are black. This is the principal whitefly on flower crops, especially poinsettias. Amblyseius andersonii is effective on two-spotted spider mite. Hypoaspis miles is a small predatory mite that inhabits the top layer of soil and feeds on a wide variety of tiny soil dwelling insects and mites (fungus gnat eggs, larvae and pupae, springtails, root aphids) and also thrips pupae in the soil. Scouting is critical in determining population trends of Western flower thrips throughout the growing season and helps in timing the release of biological control agents. There is also a nematode biological control sold as Fruit and Vegetable Protection’. The main whitefly on flower crops is sweet potato whitefly B-biotype (Bemisia tabaci) formally called the silverleaf whitefly (Bemisia argentifolii). These can be purchased from biological control suppliers (downloads pdf document) Hanging blue sticky traps (widely available from garden suppliers) above or among the plants in glasshouses can trap thrips and help monitor and reduce numbers. Make releases near infestaions and concentrate releases near localized hot spots. Metarhizium anisopliae Strain F52(Met52): Bioinsecticide on a grain matrix for use against thrips pupae. and with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. About 95% of adults should have emerged from the pupae. N.C. Aphids (various species). The Brazilian peppertree thrips, Pseudophilothrips ichini (Hood) (Thysanoptera: Phlaeothripidae), is an insect native to Brazil (Figure 1). Expose the jar to room temperature (70-75F) out of direct sunlight. Banker plants for aphids consists of pots of common rye or winter barley on which colonies of grass-feeding aphid species such as the corn-leaf aphid, or bird-cherry aphid are established. Orius can be introduced curatively in these hot spots. Continue making releases until 80% of the whitefly population has been parasitized. H. miles prefers to feed on first instar fungus gnat larvae and it prey is not avaialble will feed on plant debris and algae. Feltiella acarisuga a predatory gall midge is also an option - see below. A single preventative release at planting is generally recommended to supplement above ground releases of A. cucumeris. Encarsia formosa: Adult females lay eggs in whitefly nymphs; larvae emerge from eggs and consume the internal contents of the whitefly (one encarsia in each parastized whitefly nymph). F acarisuga is effective on greenhouse tomatoes and are not inhibited by the hairs. Non-chemical methods A number of practices are recommended to prevent or minimise the establishment of thrips on greenhouse crops.