Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection (2006) 113, 128-134

C. Sengonca, P. Blaeser, Ö. Özden and U. Kersting (2006)
Occurrence of thrips (Thysanoptera) infestation on nectarines and its importance to fruit damage in North Cyprus
Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection 113 (3), 128-134
Abstract: The occurrence and population fluctuation of thrips (Thysanoptera) and the resulting damage to fruit were studied on different nectarine varieties at three locations in North Cyprus during 2004 and 2005. Direct sampling on nectarine trees revealed 21 thrips species with most of them encountered during petal fall and fruit growth. Only few thrips specimens were caught on blue sticky cards in nectarine orchards and adjacent segetal flora during January and February. The flight activity of thrips peaked with up to 334 thrips/card/week between end of April and beginning of May in nectarine orchards and adjacent segetal flora at all locations. Only Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) was recovered from all nectarine orchards, but direct sample results remained low during the entire season with a weekly maximum number of four F. occidentalis on 50 branches in 2004 and twelve individuals in 2005. In both years, the first F. occidentalis occurred on all nectarine varieties during pink flower stage and full bloom. The variety 'Maravilla', flowering earliest beginning of February, had the highest rate of non-marketable fruit in 2004 with 27.5% and 37.9% in 2005. The latest flowering variety 'Armking' showed also the lowest rate of non-marketable fruit in both years ranging between 1.2% and 10.3%. Damage to fruit appeared to depend more on the flowering time of nectarines than on the abundance of F. occidentalis .
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Database assignments for author(s): Cetin Sengonca, Ozge Ozden, Peter Blaeser

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
surveys/sampling/distribution
population dynamics/ epidemiology

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Frankliniella occidentalis	Peach/nectarine (Prunus persica)	Cyprus