Population abundance of Thrips palmi and its management options by using chemical insecticides and biocontrol agents

The melon thrips, Thrips palmi Karny is an economically important pest of all vegetables crops in the south Florida. It causes significant loss of marketable yield due to its feeding damage. Various insecticides were used to control this pest. During the last two seasons, commonly used insecticides did not provide satisfactory control of this pest. In the present study, efforts will be made to understand its population dynamics and effectiveness of various old and new insecticides