Image credit: R M McPherson, Univ. Georgia, Bugwood.org

Tobacco Thrips

Frankliniella fusca

Tobacco thrips (Frankliniella fusca) is a pest of a wide range of economically important plants, including field crops, vegetables, peanuts and ornamentals. Frankliniella fusca can reproduce sexually or parthenogenetically. The lifecycle is completed in 15-25 days,…

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Tobacco thrips (Frankliniella fusca) is a pest of a wide range of economically important plants, including field crops, vegetables, peanuts and ornamentals. Frankliniella fusca can reproduce sexually or parthenogenetically. The lifecycle is completed in 15-25 days, with development from egg, 2 larval stages, pre-pupa, pupae through to adult. Adult thrips are small (1-2mm) and are brown or black in colour.

Adults and larvae feed on new plant growth, with high infestations causing damage through plant disfiguration or growth inhibition. Frankliniella fusca are also known to transmit plant viruses such as Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV). North American cotton growers have faced heavy damage to cotton seedlings in recent years with heavy attacks by Frankliniella fusca.

In North America, the combination of seed treatments and foliar insecticide use have been used by growers to stem the damage caused by the thrips to cotton seedlings but reports of resistance to those insecticides have subsequently emerged.

Distribution map for Tobacco Thrips
Global distribution of tobacco thrips

Resistance status

Known resistance in Tobacco Thrips
Insecticide groupRegion
NeonicotinoidsMoA 4A USA

Resistance to neonicotinoid insecticides has been reported in populations of Frankliniella fusca in the Southern United States and particularly in the mid-south. No other resistance has been reported in this species.

Key resources

Key references

Key references
ReferenceYearAuthorsPublisher
Stability of neonicotinoid sensitivity in Frankliniella fusca populations found in agroecosystems of the southeastern USAVol. 75 (6) pg. 1539-1545 2019Chappell TM, Huseth AS, Kennedy GGPest Management Science
Evaluation of alternative mode of action insecticides in managing neonicotinoid-resistant Frankliniella fusca in cottonVol. 113, Pg.56-63 2018D'Ambrosio DA, Huseth AS, Kennedy GGCrop Protection
Neonicotinoid Insecticide Resistance in Tobacco Thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) of MississippiVolume 111, Issue 6, Pages 2824–2830, 2018Darnell-Crumpton C, Catchot AL, Cook DR, Gore J, Dodds DM, Morsello SC, Musser FRJournal of Economic Entomology
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Key references
ReferenceYearAuthorsPublisher
Responses of neonicotinoid resistant and susceptible Frankliniella fusca life stages to multiple insecticide groups in cotton.Vol. 73 (10) pg. 2118-2130 2017Huseth AS, D'Ambrosio DA, Kennedy GGPest Management Science
Frankliniella fusca resistance to neonicotinoid insecticides: an emerging challenge for cotton pest management in the eastern United StatesVol 72 (10), pp. 1934-1945 2016Huseth AS, Chappell TM, Langdon K, Morsello SC, Martin S, Greene JK, Herbert A, Jacobson AL, Reay-Jones FPF, Reed T, Reisig DD, Roberts PM, Smith R, Kennedy GGPest Management Science

External links