Scirtothrips mangiferae Priesner
Taxonomic placing: Insecta, Hemimetabola, Thysanoptera, Terebrantia, Thripidae.
Common name: Mediterranean mango thrips.
Geographical distribution: The Middle East, Iran and East Africa.
Host plants: Citrus, cotton, grapevines, mango, peach and others.
Morphology: The body is yellow, forewings pale. The pronotum is striate whereas the metanotum is mostly reticulate.
Life history: The pest raises 3-4 annual generations. During winter it hides within mango buds, later moving onto the inflorescences and the setting fruits. Its numbers increase in spring (unless reduced by khamsins) and summer, surge by late-summer, decline in autumn. Reproduction is apparently by parthenogenesis, as males are very rare.
Economic importance: Feeding on the foliage causes curling, distortions, and drop, especially of young leaves, and twig shortening. infested fruits show silvery spots that turn brown, reducing their market value.
Management:
Monitoring: Sticky yellow traps. An economic injury level was suggested: when 10 pests/young twig were found, a pesticide application was required.
Chemical control: Good pest control was obtained in India by spraying with pyrethroids, organophoshates and with various plant extracts.
References
Ben-David, T., Venezian, A. and Ben-Dov, Y. 1985. Observations on the phenology, biology and control of the mango thrips, Scirtothrips mangiferae Preisner, in the Arava of Israel. Hassadeh 65: 1826-1830 (in Hebrew with an English abstract).
Kumar, S. and Bhatt, R.I. 1999 Field evaluation of plant leaf extracts, oil and neem products against mango hopper (_Amritodus atikinsoni_Lethierry) and thrips (Scirtothrips mangiferae Hood). Allelopathy Journal 6: 271-276.
Wysoki, M., Ben-Dov, Y., Swirski, E. and Izhar, Y. 1993. The arthropod pests of mango in Israel. Acta Horticulturae 341: 452-466.
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