Abstract:

Thrips (Thysanoptera) species in pepper fields was determined in Tokat province, Türkiye in 2021-2022. The density of thrips began to rise once the leaves emerged in late May, and the collection of thrips species started in June to October. In order to determine the thrips species common in the region, 25 flowers from a total of 25 plants randomly selected in the pepper field during each sampling period were taken into falcon tubes containing 60% ethyl alcohol. At the same time, the flowers and leaves of 25 plants, representing the field, were shaken onto white paper and the thrips were taken into 1.5 ml eppendorf tubes containing 60% ethyl alcohol with the help of a sable-tipped brush. In order to determine the common thrips species in the region, the flowers and leaves of 25 randomly selected plants in the pepper field in each sampling period were shaken on the white paper and the thrips were taken into 1.5 ml eppendorf tubes with the help of a sable-tipped brush. The assessment encompassed various thrips families belonging to the order Thysanoptera, specifically Thripidae, Aeolothripidae, and Phlaeothripidae. A total of 7 Thysanoptera species were identified in this study. The species were Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande, 1895), Thrips tabaci (Lindeman, 1889), Thrips meridionalis (Priesner 1926) and Chirothrips manicatus (Haliday, 1836) in Thripidae family, and Aeolothrips intermedius (Bagnall, 1934) and Aeolothrips fasciatus (Linnaeus, 1758) in Aeolothripidae family, and Haplothrips aculeatus (Fabricius, 1803) in Phlaeothripidae family. Both adult and larval thrips were gathered from the flowers, with a significant abundance of larval thrips noted towards the end of June. In this study, the dominant species was F. occidentalis in pepper fields in Tokat province.

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