Description
Key Features
– Orius is the only biological control agent that kills adult thrips.
– Can kill up to 80 adult thrips per day (while only feeding on a few).
– Establishes well on pollen-rich crops.
– Feeding Ephestia eggs (Bug Food E) will enhance the establishment of Orius due to increased fecundity.
– All five Orius nymph stages are also predatory and adults can fly.
– Considered a generalist predator it will also feed on mites, moth eggs and other pests.
– Takes 4 to 8 weeks to establish a population.
Main uses
– Western Flower thrips
– Onion thrips
– Other thrips spp
– Moth eggs
– TSSM (Two Spotted Spider Mite)
How It Works
– All mobile stages are voracious predators of Western Flower thrips and will attack any developmental stage including adults.
– Often used in a program with predatory mites in crops such as peppers, where it will quickly establish when feeding on the target pest as well as pollen.
– Introducing Amblyseius cucumeris or swirskii will control young thrips, and the Orius will complement this by preying on both juvenile and adult thrips.
