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A decade of a thrips invasion in China: lessons learned

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Abstract

The Western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis Pergande (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) is an invasive polyphagous pest with an expanding global range that damages a wide variety of crops. F. occidentalis was first reported in China from Yunnan province during 2000, and has rapidly expanded its range since then. It is currently distributed across at least 10 provinces in China and has become a particularly devastating pest, causing substantial damage and economic losses. At present, the still heavy reliance on frequent use of insecticides for control of F. occidentalis, has lead to a series of ecological problems stemming from insecticide resistance, interspecific displacement and non-target effects. Thus, integrated pest management (IPM) programmes, multiple complementary tactics, including preventive tactics, biological controls, and judicious use of insecticides will likely provide a viable IPM strategy for control of F. occidentalis in the near future. This review provides an overview for information gained during the 10+ years since the invasion of F. occidentalis into China, reviews lessons that have been learned enhancing our overall understanding of the biology and ecology of F. occidentalis and discusses IPM practices relative to this widespread invasive insect pest.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. Cecil L. Smith (University of Georgia, U.S.A) for help with the language editing of the revised manuscript.

Funding

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 31371942), Beijing Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 6172031) and National Key Research and Development Project (Grant No. 2016YFC1200600).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Disease and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100193, PR China

    Shengyong Wu, Xingrui Zhang, Zhenlong Xing & Yulin Gao

  2. Environment and Plant Protection Institute,, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Haikou, 571101, PR China

    Liangde Tang

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  1. Shengyong Wu
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Correspondence to Yulin Gao.

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Wu, S., Tang, L., Zhang, X. et al. A decade of a thrips invasion in China: lessons learned. Ecotoxicology 27, 1032–1038 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-017-1864-6

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