tobacco thrips
Insecta (Hexapoda) > Thysanoptera > Thripidae
Frankliniella fusca (Hinds)
Host: flue-cured tobacco
Nicotiana tabacum L.
Photographer: R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Slide Set, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
Contact: J. Michael Moore, The University of Georgia
Descriptor: Damage
Description: Thrips feeding usually follows minor veins and the overall appearance is similar to some diseases like etch. Heavy feeding will sometimes give the surface of the leaf a shiny or silvery appearance. The underside of midribs may also be injured. Damage is most common on lower leaves of knee-high plants, but thrips may attack newly set plants. Adult thrips are tiny (1/25 inch), elongate insects, dark brown with featherlike wings. Immature are smaller and yellow or yellow-orange. To see thrips, slap a damaged leaf against a light-colored surface and observe insect movement on that surface. Thrips may be most significant as a vector of tomato spotted wilt virus.
Location: United States
Image Citation:
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Slide Set, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, www.forestryimages.org
Image Use:
This image may be copied and used, in whole or in part, for any non-profit, educational purpose provided that all reproductions bear an appropriate credit. Any commercial or other use of the image requires the written permission of the photographer or contact organization, and Forestry Images.