Abstract
SUMMARY. Results of experiments on the effect of water supply on the infestation of a plant by thrips suggested that the surface caking of the soil has an important influence on the degree of infestation. Plants grown in pots in which the surface of the soil was tilled showed a higher infestation by thrips than plants in similar pots, but in which the soil was allowed to cake, although both sets of plants were receiving an equal water supply, and all other conditions were the same. The difference in the infestation factors for the two groups was largely due to differences in the numbers of larval thrips, but it is pointed out that the number of larvae forms a more reliable factor than the number of adult insects. The present experiments support the suggestion put forward that surface caking of the soil acts inimically to soil pupating species of thrips.
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