Yellow Thrips?

[Pachrian]

A couple of buds on my Chariots of Fire changed color. Thinking it might be infested with thrips I picked one bud off and looked at it more closely. There were tiny little thrips-like bugs inside, but they were yellow.

I took some pics, which was a bit of a challenge because they moved very quickly and are so tiny (1mm). I'm hoping somebody has an idea of what they are and what I need to do?

[Charlie]

Hi Uli,

Amazing photos. I was concerned at first because of the yellow color. A much worse pest than thrips, called hibiscus gall midge, invades buds in Florida and other Gulf Coast states, and when you open up the buds you find yellow worm-like critters that actively move about and can even "hop" by contracting their bodies. However, your photos show a different shape even though yellow. I think you have found the second instar stage of the western flower thrips although it could be one of the other 4 instar stages they go through as they develop.

Below are some photos of the different stages of thrips. The similarity to your photos makes me feel sure that you have discovered thrips inside your buds. The 3rd photo is of a thrips instar eating mite eggs - nice but not worth losing buds over! To get rid of them you need to spray the buds and tops of the plants with Spinosad at least 3 times over the next 2 weeks.

Charlie

[Pachrian]

Yikes, Charlie, that's not the kind of news I was hoping for. Although, considering the alternative, maybe it isn't THAT bad, lol.

So I removed all the discolored buds this morning, and shook out the open bloom. Sure enough, there were plenty of dark little thripes. Took some more pics, wow what a challenge, these guys are even faster and jump or flutter. Keeping track of them through the macro lens with extension tubes is not easy.

I sprayed all the plants with spinosad and will go out and buy the orange 409. Keep them out of the sun today, right?

#1 is pretty sharp
#2 shows the size compared to pollen
#3 shows the fluttering wings