Technique for mass rearing thrips, Thrips palmi Karny (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), in the Greenhouse

摘要

Greenhouse and laboratory experiments were conducted to develop an effective mass rearing technique for thrips, Thrips palmi Karny. A set-up that provided soil for thrips pupation and water supplied from below, then placed on top of a deep tray containing soap solution for ant protection facilitated greenhouse mass rearing of the insect. A number of arthropod species were observed associated with thrips during the rearing, the most important of which were the predatory ants Paratrechina longicornis (Latreille) and Tapinoma (Micrornyrma) melanocephala (Fabricius). Cucumber and eggplant seedlings can be used as host plants for continuous massrearing. For efficiency and economy however, eggplant is preferable. Replacement of the infested host plant with new seedling at about 27 clays interval is necessary to prevent significant decline in thrips population as the condition of the host plant deteriorates. Greenhouse temperature exceeding 32 deg C that normally occurs in April and May in the Philippines was observed to cause significant thrips population decline.