Western thrips Flower Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) is one of the most important pests of fruit trees during the flowering season in the world. The use of colored traps and insecticides is very common in the management of this insect. In this study, the rate of adult insect attraction by three types of colored traps (yellow, blue, and white) and the efficacy of five pesticide combinations (deltamethrin + imidacloprid, acetamiprid, antifeedant, azadirachtin, and oxydimethon-methyl) against this pest were investigated in two separate randomized complete block designs in an apple orchard in the suburbs of Shiraz. The results were expressed as the average density of Western Flower Thrips per 25 cm of shoot and the percentage of population reduction was estimated based on the Henderson-Tilton formula. The results for colored traps showed that on all sampling dates, blue traps attracted significantly more Flower Thrips than other traps. On average, blue traps attracted 13.85 ± 31.34, yellow traps 4.78 ± 56.12, and white traps 1.83 ± 4.87 of Western Flower Thrips. The results of the analysis of variance of the data 14 days after pesticide application indicated a significant effect of the treatments on the population density of Western flower thrips, and the comparison of the means showed that the deltamethrin + imidacloprid, acetamiprid, and antifeedant treatments had a significant difference from the control. The average percentage of pest mortality in the deltamethrin + imidacloprid, acetamiprid, antifeedant, azadirachtin, and oxydimethon-methyl treatments 14 days after pesticide application was determined to be 77.7, 3.83, 1.70, 6.25, and 9.29 percent, respectively. Overall, the use of blue sticky traps and the insecticide mixture deltamethrin + imidacloprid, acetamiprid, and antifeedant in the Western flower thrips control management program seems appropriate.
Comments