New flower thrips destroys berry crops in Australia
An invasive flower thrips, Frankliniella intonsa, has been detected for the first time in Australia in southeastern Queensland, causing significant damage to strawberry, raspberry and blackberry plantations. As ABC News Australia reports, growers in the Moreton Bay and Sunshine Coast regions are throwing away tonnes of damaged berries at the height of the season.
Biosecurity Queensland officially confirmed the insect's first detection in Australia in April at a farm in Elimbah, in damaged raspberries. Authorities have not determined how the pest overcame national biosecurity measures.
Crop losses
The thrips, measuring from 1.2 to 1.8 millimetres long, feeds and lays eggs inside flowers and on young fruit. Its mouthparts damage plant cells, causing berries to become scarred, lose their marketable appearance, crack and suffer rain damage. At the same time, damaged fruit remains safe to eat.
Queensland Strawberry Growers president Adrian Schulz said the pest had spread across all strawberry-growing areas in southeastern Queensland. He estimated that most farms in the region could lose at least 50% of their crops, with losses reaching millions of dollars. He also suggested that strawberry losses could affect retail prices.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Farmer Brandon Hoyle from the Glass House Mountains area said pickers are sending up to 70% of his strawberry crop to compost. Growers say insecticides have so far failed to bring thrips numbers under control.
Natural enemies of the pest
Paul Jones, director of Bugs for Bugs, a company that breeds beneficial insects for crop protection, said the thrips' natural enemies are a predatory mite and a predatory bug. However, this season the pest population was already too large by the time beneficial insects began to be released on plantations.
Frankliniella intonsa has previously been recorded in New Zealand, Europe, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Japan, Canada and the United States. The pest develops well at temperatures between 18 and 28 degrees Celsius. Biosecurity Queensland said it would continue working with industry representatives to assess the insect's spread, impacts and future control approaches.
