Imidacloprid effects on probing and settling behavior of Frankliniella fusca and Frankliniella occidentalis (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) in tomato.

The effects of tomato, Lycopersicum spp., leaves treated with imidacloprid on probing and settling behavior of Frankliniella fusca (Hinds) and Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergrande) were examined using an electrical penetration graph technique and an intact leaf bioassay. For each experiment, thrips were subjected to nontreated plants and plants treated with either of two rates of imidacloprid: 7.81 and 41.55 microg [(AI)] per plant. F. fusca probed less frequently on plants treated with the high rate of imidacloprid compared with the nontreated plants. The duration of F. fusca noningestion probing waveforms and ingestion was shorter on plants treated with the high rate of imidacloprid compared with that on nontreated plants. In contrast, F. occidentalis probed longer and more frequently on plants treated with either the low or high imidacloprid rates compared with nontreated plants. They also ingested more frequently and for longer durations on plants treated with the high rate compared with nontreated plants. The duration and frequency of noningesting probing waveforms were greater on the imidacloprid-treated plants compared with the nontreated plants. F. occidentalis probed and ingested more frequently and for a longer duration than F. fusca on plants treated with the high rate of imidacloprid. F. fusca ingested more frequently and the duration of ingestion was longer than F. occidentalis in untreated plants. F. fusca and F. occidentalis settling behavior differed within the first 30 min in a choice bioassay. F. fusca preferred settling on leaves of nontreated plants, whereas F. occidentalis showed no preference in an intact leaf choice bioassay.