Source: MIRAGE NEWS, 10/20/20


The western flower thrips – an invasive insect that’s not much bigger than a pinhead – takes a huge bite out of agriculture around the world, racking up billions of dollars’ worth of damage on a wide range of food, fiber and ornamental crops each year. Scientists now have a complete genetic blueprint to help them better understand the pest and to find ways to control it. The research fills a significant gap in agricultural science and insect science: It highlights the first genome sequence and analysis for a member of Thysanoptera, an order that contains over 7,000 species of small insects with fringed wings.

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