Thrips (Insecta: Thysanoptera) Species in Pepper Fields in Tokat Province, Türkiye

Abstract

Abstract: Thrips (Insecta: Thysanoptera) species in pepper fields was determined in Tokat Province, Türkiye in 2021-2022. The density of thrips began to rise once the leaves emerged in late May, and the collection of thrips species started in June to October. To conduct regular samplings of thrips that were infesting pepper fields, flowers were collected and placed in plastic tubes (50 ml) filled with ethyl alcohol at a concentration of 60%. The densities of thrips populations and the resulting damage caused by thrips attacks on different plant components (such as flowers, leaves, and fruits) were evaluated through the examination of a randomly chosen 25 samples for each plant part during each sampling period. The assessment encompassed various thrips families belonging to the order Thysanoptera, specifically, families, Thripidae, Aeolothripidae, and Phlaeothripidae. A total of 7 Thysanoptera species were identified in this study. The species were Frankliniella occidentalis (Priesner, 1932), Thrips tabaci Lindeman), 1895, Thrips meridionalis (Priesner 1926) and Chirothrips manicatus (Haliday, 1836) in Thripidae family, and Aeolothrips intermedius (Bagnall, 1934) and Aeolothrips fasciatus (Linnaeus, 1758) in Aeolothripidae family, and Haplothrips aculeatus (Fabricius, 1803) in Phlaeothripidae family. Both adult and larval thrips were collected mainly from the flowers sampled In this study, the dominant species was F occidentalis in pepper fields in Tokat Province.