The tiny insect, measuring just 1.2 to 1.8 millimetres long, has attacked strawberry, raspberry and blackberry crops in the Moreton Bay and Sunshine Coast regions since its first detection was officially confirmed by Biosecurity Queensland in April, in damaged raspberries at an Elimbah farm.
Growers report that insecticides have not been able to control the thrips, which are listed as an emergency plant pest, and numbers have exploded. Tonnes of damaged fruit are being discarded at the peak of the season.
Queensland Strawberry Growers president Adrian Schultz described the situation as a "perfect storm of insects", noting that Frankliniella intonsa is compounding the impact of varroa mite on honey bees. "It's completely and utterly through all the strawberry-growing areas in south-east Queensland," he said. "We're looking at millions of dollars … on average most farms would be losing."
The thrips feed and lay eggs inside fruit blossoms and on young developing fruit, using rasping mouthparts to rupture and suck fluids from plant cells, causing scarring that reduces yield and marketability. Although affected fruit is safe to eat, it becomes vulnerable to splitting and rain damage.
Overseas, the pest is known to challenge crops including green beans, zucchinis, cucumbers, melons, capsicums, asparagus, alfalfa, cotton and cut flowers, raising concerns the outbreak could spread beyond berries to other horticultural and agricultural industries, as well as home gardens.
It remains unknown how Frankliniella intonsa breached national biosecurity barriers.