Bean Thrips Caliothrips fasciatus (Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae)

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Bean thrips adults can hide in the navel end of oranges during the winter months as fruit is being harvest. 

Citrus exported from California to Australia has traditionally had a very high rate of fumigation for mite and insect pests.  About 60% of shipments from CA are fumigated when they arrive in Australia.  The Australians are primarily interested in protecting themselves from bean thrips, which can hide in the navel of fruit. A pre-clearance program has been established to reduce the chance of bean thrips arriving in Australia.  This program consists of Australian inspectors inspecting fruit in CA before it is shipped to Australia.  This program has eliminated fumigation in Australia for CA growers that have participated in it.  Whether you use this pre-clearance program or not, it is very important that you cut the navel end of fruit to determine which of your citrus orchards have significant bean thrips populations.  If you know which orchards have high levels of bean thrips, you can avoid sending those shipments to Australia and avoid the problems of inspection delays and the cost of fumigation.  Below are several pdf files that describe the pest and provide information about sampling and mitigating bean thrips infestations.

Bean Thrips Identification and Monitoring:
Sticky Cards (pdf file) This color brochure shows photos of live specimens of various thrips species that might be found in citrus and also provides photos of what bean thrips look like when caught on sticky cards. 
Sources of Sticky Cards for Bean Thrips Monitoring

Protocols for 2008-09
Australian Government Pre-Clearance Work Plan for California Citrus  (pdf file) This publication describes the work plan used since October 2007. 
2008-09 Bean Thrips Protocol for Shipment of Fruit to Australia (9 point plan)  (pdf file) This document describes the protocol for bean thrips fruit cutting and fruit inspection as of August 7, 2008.

Bean Thrips Research: Publications by Joe Morse's research team on various aspects of bean thrips sampling
Sticky Trap Color (pdf file) The research behind the choice of green sticky cards as the best tool for bean thrips monitoring.
Fruit Cutting (pdf file) Describes different methods for detecting bean thrips in fruit (washing versus cutting fruit)

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