Western Flower Thrips (WFT - Frankliniella occidentalis) was first recorded in Australia in the mid 1990’s. In the late 2001 they were found in cotton crops in the St George region (also on grapes), and in early 2002, also in the Namoi, Darling Downs (Dr Melina Miles) and in Emerald (Dave Kelly). WFT are found in cotton in the USA. In California, they are a pest but rarely cause concern and so are regarded more as a beneficial as they eat mite eggs. In the southeastern USA where the cotton season is shorter, they are regarded primarily as a pest. Across the USA WFT in cotton is generally quite susceptible to insecticides. The populations found in Australian cotton, however, have come from horticultural crops where there has been intense insecticide selection and hence they are highly resistant to many insecticides. Dr Grant Herron has a major project to evaluate the insecticide resistance of this pest in horticultural crops and glasshouses. Ironically, WFT is also a predator of mite eggs, as are the local thrips species is important as WFT is visually very similar in appearance to the two other local pest thrips species Thrips tabaci and Frankliniella schultzei, so resistance may also make them a pesticide resistant predator.

Given the potential for WFT to become a pest in cotton we approached CRDC for funding to bring Dr Laurence Mound to Narrabri to provide training on the identification of this species. Identification is important as WFT is visually very similar in appearance to the two other local pest thrips species T. tabaci and F. schultzei as well as a number of other species that sporadically occur in cotton. Dr Mound is internationally recognized for his work with thrips taxonomy, biology and ecology.