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Abstract
The vertical and horizontal distribution of pear thrips in Vermont sugar maple forest soils was investigated. In the fall, about 86% of the thrips were found in the upper 10 cm of soil, though a few were found as deep as 20 cm. No thrips were found in the leaf litter. Soil sampling tools to determine thrips populations within an entire forest were tested and a standard hand-held bulb planter was found to be the most effective. No consistent pattern in thrips distribution around individual sugar maple trees was found. Pear thrips distribution within a forest stand predominating in sugar maple appeared to be random, but clumped, and variation in the density of pear thrips among individual samples was relatively high. For conducting soil sampling on a statewide scale, ten soil samples per sugarbush was found to be sufficient for estimating pear thrips population levels within an acceptable error range.
Parent Publication
Citation
Skinner, Margaret; Parker, Bruce L. 1991. Bioecology of pear thrips: distribution in forest soils. Parker, Bruce. L.; Skinner, Margaret; Lewis, Trevor, eds. Towards Understanding Thysanoptera. Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-147. Radnor, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station: 193-211.
