I don't know much about insects and the type that like to ravage our precious herb. We have one little pest that seems to survive the weekly SM-90 applications. If you can help identify this little pest it would sure help me in deciding my course of action to rid our garden of them.

Thanks.

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It looks like a thrip to me, Hooker.....

Wiki Thrips~ They attache to growing parts and suck out the juices. I had them in my outdoor girls last year. They can be different colours, but basically the same thing. I used diatomaceous earth on the leaves and that seemed to help.

Good luck buddy.

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If it's Thrips (your fav product) once a week for three weeks to interrupt the cycle.

For soil Nematodes are said to work

Thrips

This Is Close??
By Judy Sedbrook, Colorado Master GardenerSM, Colorado State University Cooperative Extension, Denver County
Thrips are small insects, only about 1/20", but they can cause a lot of damage. At maturity, they are yellowish or blackish with fringed wings. Nymphs have a similar shape but lack the wings. They are usually yellowish to white. Thrips are poor flyers. As a result, damage often occurs in one part of the plant then slowly spreads throughout it.
Thrips feed in buds, folded leaves, and other unexposed areas of plants. This makes them difficult to treat with an insecticide. They feed by sucking juices from the plant causing stippling, or small scars, on leaves, flowers and fruit. This results in stunting of the plant, leaf distortion and premature leaf drop. Flowers may be deformed and fail to open properly. Petals may show brown streaks and spots. Their excrement is black and shiny, which may be a clue to their presence. In addition to this physical damage, thrips also transmit tomato spotted wilt virus and impatiens necrotic spot virus, for which there is no control.
Control of thrips is difficult. To look for their presence, shake the plant out over a sheet of white paper. If you find thrips there are a few steps you can take to dispatch them.

• Dislodge them by applying a strong stream of water to the affected plant.
• This is one time you will want to use overhead watering as it kills many of the thrips.
• Placing aluminum foil mulches under the plants has been found in some instances to disorient the thrips.
• Remove and discard affected blossoms and plant parts.
• Thrips prefer tender new growth. Avoid excess pruning which may stimulate new growth.
• Avoid planting near dry, weed or grassy areas. Thrips migrate from these areas into the garden.
• The location of the insects makes it difficult to reach them with insecticides. Products that have been somewhat successful are: horticultural oils, insecticidal soaps, Neem, pyrethroids, acephate (non-food crops only). Two biological controls have shown promise in Colorado. They are Beauvaria bassiana (Naruralis O, Botanigard) and Spinosad.

Photos: Judy Sedbrook


WESTERN FLOWER THRIPS, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande)
and ONION THRIPS, Thrips tabaci Lindeman Description PictureDamage slender, spindle-shaped insects
adults are unusually under 1/16 inch long
usually very active
four slender wings are fringed with hairs
larvae resemble adults without wings

Photo credit: W. L. Sterling, Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University feed on plant tissue
rasp leaf surfaces and suck juices
heavily damaged plants appear silvery or gray
plants may be distorted especially seedlings

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what about a pyrethrum bug bomb?



BOTANIGARD® 22WP
Wettable Powder Mycoinsecticide for Control of Whitefly, Aphids, Thrips, Psyllids, Weevils, and Mealybugs in Ornamentals and Vegetables, Indoor/Outdoor Nurseries, Greenhouses, Shade houses, Commercial Landscape/Interiorscape, and Turf

BotaniGard 22WP contains live spores of the naturally occurring fungus, Beauveria bassiana. Spores are alive and may be harmed by storage at high temperatures or contact with water for more than 24 hours. See storage instructions on this label.

BotaniGard 22WP acts by contact. Spores must attach to the target insect for this product to be effective. Thorough spray coverage is essential. Spores may attach to insects either by direct contact from spray or from contact with sprayed foliage or soil. Spores on the insect germinate, and penetrate through the insect cuticle. The fungus then grows rapidly within the insect, causing mortality.
BotaniGard 22WP works best in a pest management program designed to keep insect populations below levels which damage crops. Typically, it takes 3-7 days for an infected insect to die and 7-10 days after the first spray to see a reduction in an insect population. Application rates, spray frequency, spray coverage and insect numbers affect the speed at which insect populations are reduced.
Frequent scouting for insects in crops is recommended. BotaniGard 22WP is most effective when used at the first appearance of insects in the crop, before high insect populations develop.

BotaniGard 22WP may be combined with chemical insecticides for rapid knockdown of damaging insect populations or large numbers of insects moving into crops. Pre-harvest interval for BotaniGard 22WP is zero (0) days. BotaniGard 22WP can be applied up to and including the day of harvest. BotaniGard 22WP may be applied using hand-held, and/or ground spray equipment; also by low-volume application equipment.

Click Here To See Applicator Click Here To See Product Label Click Here To See MSDS

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Naturalis-O, A New Mycoinsecticide


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Spinosad - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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its either a thrip or it might be a predatory mite. i cant really tell .

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Thank you everyone for your input. I do believe it is a thrip after looking at all these pictures. The one in my picture has really long antennae. Which I didn't pick out in most of the examples provided. Anyway, the SM-90 is knocking them down because we find lots of carcasses. I think the reason they return so fast is because the little buggers fly. Fortunately, we are able to keep them down enough that the plants are still thriving and looking great.

A friend of ours uses these little yellow pest strips... the kind in a plastic white holder. They help keep them away. They get attracted to them and then get poisoned and die. We are going to give those a try.

The bug bomb won't really work that well for our outdoor grow. Besides, we want to avoid any pesticide that is applied directly on the plant. The fog of a bomb will settle on the plant... I don't like the idea of that. Bug spray isn't a very good high... LOL.

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