One Of The Most Damaging Insect Pests Known Could Spread To New Regions In America

There is a long list of insect pests that threaten crops within the United States. Some insect pests are, luckily, becoming less of concern to agricultural officials as time goes by. However, there are other invasive insect pests in the US that could go on to become tremendously devastating to American crops in the future. One of these invasive insect species is referred to as the “chilli thrip”. This insect pest has long been well known to infest various vegetable and fruit crops in eastern Asia, Africa and Oceania. The chilli thrip is a relatively new invasive insect pest within America. Chilli thrips cause extensive damage to plants in subtropical southern regions of the US. If this particular invasive insect were to spread to other regions in the US, serious crop devastation and dire economic consequences could result.

Chilli thrips are already known to damage a wide variety of crops and ornamental plants in southern states along the Gulf Coast, mainly in Florida. However, there has been some controversy concerning this insect pest’s presence in more northern regions of North America. One particular study suggested that chilli thrips have established populations ranging from Florida to Canada. Another group of researchers contradicted this study’s findings, and claimed that chilli thrips have not moved beyond the southern Pacific states. If chilli thrips ever became widely distributed within the US, the agricultural economy could see monetary losses as high as three billion dollars per year. Agricultural officials in Florida consider chilli thrips to be one of the most damaging invasive insects in the state. Since the first American chilli thrip infestation was noticed as recently as 1991, some experts believe that populations of these damaging insects may still spread throughout the country. Since 1984, inspectors have noticed chilli thrips attached to ornamental plants on eighty nine different occasions. Luckily, it is likely that chilli thrips have not spread farther than the Gulf region. But the future of chilli thrips in the US is still uncertain.

Do you believe that different chilli thrip species could still reach American ports from exotic locations?