Want to learn more about the different thrips that infest greenhouse crops? Want to be able to confidently identify them to species? Interested in how species affects IPM porgrams? Then sign up for our LAST thrips identification workshop!
This workshop will be held at the Canadian Greenhouse Conference Oct 9-10 (final date of workshop TBD). Although the conference isn’t until October, we need you to pre-register for the workshop by June 6. (Why? Because a lot goes into planning and advertising a conference, and we need to know NUMBERS, folks!).
Read on for what this workshop entails and how to pre-register.
- Workshop Details: Learning to ID Thrips
- Location and Date of Our Last Workshop
- How to Register
- What to do in the mean time
Workshop Details: Learning to ID Thrips
WHY:
It’s no secret that recent outbreaks of thrips species other than western flower thrips (WFT) have made producing greenhouse crops in Ontario harder than usual. This includes species such as onion thrips, Thrips parvispinus, and chrysanthemum thrips.
As control measures are different depending on the thrips species you’re dealing with, the very FIRST step in learning how to manage these pests is proper species identification. If you’re interested in having someone in your greenhouse operation learn how to do this (so you don’t have to rely on government specialists), then keep reading!
WHAT:
This Thrips Species Identification Workshop is designed to teach greenhouse growers and IPM practitioners how to correctly identify thrips species that may occur on their farm. This includes common species such as western flower thrips, onion thrips, and Echinothrips, but also exotic species that are being encountered more often in Ontario (e.g. Thrips parvispinus, greenhouse banded thrips).
This 3-hour, hands-on workshop is designed for growers with all levels of insect experience, including those who have never used a microscope before.
WHO:
This joint workshop is being run by thrips experts at the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, OMAFRA, and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC).
Location and Date of Our Last Workshop
Our LAST session will be held at:
Niagara Falls, ON, as part of the Canadian Greenhouse Conference (CGC): Oct 9-10th (time and exact date to be determined).
NOTE: As this session will be part of CGC, attendance will require paying the conference registration fee ($125 CDN online, or $150 CDN at the door), but there will be no additional fees.
How to Register
Please go to our events page for the Thrips Identification Workshop and follow the instructions to pre-register. Space will be limited – your spot will be confirmed at a later date.
What to do in the mean time
If you currently have a population of thrips that’s confusing you, and you have access to a microscope, your first step is to try your hand at OMAFRA/Vineland’s simple Thrips Key for Growers. Since it’s inception in 2015, dozens of growers and IPM consultants have successfully used this key to ID species of concern. We’ll be going over this key in detail in the workshop, as well as what kind of microscope to buy and how to collect and handle samples.
If you’ve looked at the key, and still aren’t certain about which thrips species you’re looking at, you can always drop or ship samples to Vineland Station to be identified by myself (sarah.jandricic@ontario.ca) or Ashley Summerfield (Senior Research Technician, Vineland Research and Innovation Centre; ashley.summerfield@vinelandresearch.com). In the Leamington area, please consult Cara McCreary (cara.mccreary@ontario.ca) or Dr. Rose Labbe at AAFC Harrow (roselyne.labbe@agr.gc.ca).
You can also submit samples to the National Identification Service run by the Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids and Nematodes. Follow their instructions for submitting samples.
(Answer to which 3 thrips shown in Figure 1: they are ALL western flower thrips! This species comes in 4 colour morphs, ranging from light to dark. Three of these are pictured here. All were found in Ontario greenhouses.)