2025 Volume 67 Pages 25-31
When brine shrimp cysts Artemia salina Linnaeus, in a hydrated state with their shells intact (expected to absorb water from strawberry plants and soil when scattered at the base of the plants in the field), were provided, the lifetime fecundity and average longevity of a predatory thrips, Haplothrips brevitubus (Karny) increased compared to when they were not provided. No phytotoxic effect on strawberries were observed even when an excessive amount of brine shrimp cysts was sprayed at the base of the strawberry plants. Experimental field trials showed that spraying brine shrimp cysts at the base of strawberry plants in combination with the release of the predatory thrips adults increased the initial number of established adults and the number of next-generation larvae of the predatory thrips. Similar trends were confirmed in the trials in growers’ fields. The spraying of brine shrimp cysts had no negative effect on the dispersal speed between plants or the distribution patterns of the predatory thrips on flowers and fruits where pest thrips such as Frankliniella intonsa (Trybom) inhabits. The spatial overlap of adult-immatures distributions (Iwao’s ω index) indicated that spraying of brine shrimp cysts could lead to more widespread adult dispersal.
