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Thrips Pupa

Thrips are known to eat leaves, plants, fungi, flowers and fruit. Although some species eat mites and other small insects, including other thrips. Thrips eat by piercing the outer layer of their food, then extracting the fluid inside. They are considered agricultural pests due to the damage they cause to crops, as well as their rapid procreation. Some species are also carriers of plant diseases, resulting in low yields.  Some species of thrips become pests in homes when they are carried in on flowers or plants. Some thrips bite humans and the bite may cause a mysterious rash.

Leaf-eating and flower thrips deposit eggs into plants through an ovipositor. Their eggs are identifiable by the halo-like spots they leave on leaves and fruits. Their pupae cause further discoloration.

Unlike other insects, thrips have an extended metamorphosis. Thrips emerge from eggs and develop through two larval stages and a non-feeding stage called the propupa before developing into pupae. Thrips typically develop into mature adults within 20 days. 

Upon emerging from their cocoons, young thrips consume the plants on which they were initially deposited. While young pupae are similar in appearance to their adult counterparts, they do not have wings and move from plant to plant by crawling until their wings develop.

Banana Thrips

Characteristics of Six Spotted Thrips

Red-banded Thrips

Thrips in Vegetables

Thrips and Crassulaceae