Post-harvest Management of Tobacco Thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) Overwintering in Peanut Fields

Abstract

A combination of fallow tillage and a March application of carbofuran were assessed as tactics for decreasing survival and reproduction of tobacco thrips overwintering in six harvested peanut fields. Large numbers of tobacco thrips, Frankliniella fusca (Hinds) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), developed in three fields on volunteer peanut, Arachis hypogaea L., and winter annual weeds. Adult tobacco thrips collected during the late winter were predominantly brachypterous, with percent brachyptery averaging 71–95% for females. Brachypterous adults tended to be more abundant in fields harvested in September than in those harvested in October. Disking during November and February greatly reduced the density of volunteer peanut and winter annual weeds but did not measurably decrease abundance of brachypterous tobacco thrips. Carbofuran application reduced abundance of brachypterous adults and thrips larvae on volunteer peanut by 85–100% during the early spring. Post-harvest tillage and carbofuran application did not measurably reduce incidence of tomato spotted wilt virus in the subsequent peanut crop. Implications for winter ecology and management of spotted wilt are discussed.