Page "Thrips" Paragraph 38

Due to their small size and high rate of reproduction, thrips are difficult to control using classical biological control.

All predators must be small and slender enough to penetrate the crevices that thrips hide in while feeding, and then prey extensively on eggs and larvae.

Only two families of parasitoid hymenoptera are known to parasitize eggs and larvae, the Eulophidae and the Trichogrammatidae.

Other biocontrol agents of adults and larvae include aphid wasps, anthocorid bugs of genus Orius, and Phytoseiid mites.

For this reason, many growers are occasionally forced to make limited use of pesticides to control thrips populations in the field and in greenhouses.