Damage report caused by two herbivorous thrips in lime greenhouses in Sari, Mazandaran province

Document Type : Short paper

Authors

1 Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Crop Sciences, Sari University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Sari, Iran

2 Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, Ilam University, Ilam, Iran

Abstract

The outbreak of thrips infestations in lime tree flowers within newly built greenhouses in Sari, Mazandaran province, has raised significant concerns among local growers. In 2023–2024 a study conducted in one of lime greenhouses in Sari County, two thrips species Thrips hawaiiensis and Frankliniella occidentalis were frequently collected and identified from lime blossoms. Thrips sampling was conducted in multiple phases throughout the study period. In all collected samples, T. hawaiiensis was consistently present in high population densities, whereas F. occidentalis occurred at significantly lower population levels on the lime blossoms. The study examined two lime cultivars: Limeqoat and Persian Lime. While Limeqoat exhibits continuous flowering throughout the year under greenhouse conditions, Persian Lime has a seasonal flowering pattern. Consequently, thrips infestation caused significantly greater damage to Limeqoat due to its year-round floral availability.

Keywords


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