Green bean thrips

Hydatothrips adolfifriderici

1. Identification

• Common name: Green bean thrips
• Scientific name: Hydatothrips adolfifriderici Karny
• Order: Thysanoptera
• Family: Thripidae

2. Pest description

• Small-sized thrips species, with a narrow body and yellowish to brown coloration.
• Pale nymphs, generally present on young leaves and flowers of legumes.
• It feeds by rasping plant tissues and sucking the cell contents.
• Associated mainly with green beans and other cultivated legumes.

3. Main hosts

• Green beans.
• Other horticultural legumes.
• Nearby wild plants that act as a reservoir.

4. Symptoms and damage

• Silvering and discoloration of the leaves due to epidermal rasping.
• Visible damage on young flowers and pods.
• Superficial scars, blemishes and a “russeting” appearance on the pods.
• Reduced commercial quality and slight deformations under intense attacks.

5. Biological cycle

• Eggs inserted into the plant tissues.
• Nymphs feed actively on leaves and flowers.
• Pre-pupa and pupa in the soil or in plant debris.
• Cycle favored by high temperatures and low humidity.
• Several generations per year, with greater incidence in spring and summer.

6. Monitoring

• Direct observation of symptoms and insects on young leaves, flowers and pods.
• Blue or yellow sticky traps for detection and counting.
• Regular sampling in green bean crops.
• Reinforced monitoring during dry and hot periods.

7. Management measures

• Cultural: removal of plant residues; crop rotation; control of wild plants.
• Preventive: use of pest-free plants; insect-proof nets; strict cultural hygiene.
• Biological: use of predatory mites (Amblyseius swirskii, A. cucumeris) and predatory bugs (Orius spp.).
• Integrated protection: judicious application of authorized insecticides; rotation of modes of action; integration with biological control.

Bibliographic references

• EPPO Global Database – Hydatothrips adolfifriderici.
• CABI – Invasive Species Compendium – Thysanoptera.
• Kirk, W. D. J. (1997). Feeding behaviour and nutritional requirements of thrips. In: Thrips as Crop Pests.
• Mound, L. A. & Teulon, D. A. J. (1995). Thysanoptera as phytophagous pests. Annual Review of Entomology.
• Vierbergen, G. (1998). Thrips species associated with legume crops. Acta Horticulturae.