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DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTEGRATED APPROACH FOR MANAGING MELON THRIPS, THRIPS PALMI KARNY (THYSANOPTERA: THRIPIDAE) IN VEGETABLE CROPS By MOHAMMAD ABDUR RAZZAK A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2018 1 © 2018 Mohammad Abdur Razzak 2 To my parents 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First of all, I would like to thank almighty Allah for helping me to complete the long journey at the University of Florida to pursue PhD degree. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Dr. Dakshina Seal for serving as my major advisor and providing me with an opportunity to pursue my goals in entomology at the University of Florida. His scientific guidance, knowledge, comprehension, and friendship have been invaluable. I am also very grateful to other members of my supervisory committee including Dr. Philip A. Stansly, Dr. Oscar E. Liburd and Dr. Bruce Schaffer for their guidance and support to accomplish the research work and writing the dissertation. I acknowledge Dr. James Colee (University of Florida-Statistics Department) for his generous support and sincere effort in statistical analyses. I am thankful to my lab members Cathie Sabines, Dr. Cliff G. Marin, Shawbeta Seal and Rafia Khan for their help and mental support to accomplish this researsch. I am greatly indebted to my wife (Nurun Nahar) for her support in processing the leaf samples to separate thirps and mites. I don’t know where I would be without her support. She was also enormously patient in staying home lonely while I was busy with my assignment in the laboratory and field. I also sincerely appreciate my three-year old son, Abdur Rafi’s patience while his mother was washing leaf samples. My thanks go to Jose Castillo and his staff for helping in research field preparation and fertilizer application. Special recognition goes to IMAFLEX Inc. USA for providing me with plastic mulch to conduct this study. I also acknowledge Koppert Biological systems and Costa Farms (Homestead, FL) for helping me with predatory mites. Thanks to Rita Duncan and Ana Vargas for helping me in leaf trichome density estimation and measuring leaf area. Finally, last but not the least, my special gratitude goes to my parents who brought me up and supported to continue my study in Bangladesh with their limited resource but with boundless love and affection. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................................4 LIST OF TABLES ...........................................................................................................................9 ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................13 CHAPTER 1 LITERATURE REVIEW ...........................................................................................................15 Overview of Florida Vegetable Production ............................................................................15 Melon Thrips Role as a Pest ...................................................................................................15 Host Range and Preference .....................................................................................................18 Geographical Distribution ......................................................................................................20 Morphological Characters ......................................................................................................20 Life cycle, Biology and Ecology ............................................................................................21 Seasonal Prevalence ................................................................................................................23 Population Density ..................................................................................................................23 Within-Plant Distribution .......................................................................................................24 Insecticide Based Management of Melon Thrips ...................................................................25 Integrated Pest Management (IPM) ........................................................................................27 Plastic Mulch and Vegetable Production ................................................................................27 Plastic Mulch and Insect Pest Management Including Melon Thrips ....................................28 Late Season Effect of Mulch on Insect Populations ...............................................................32 Effect of Mulch on the Growth and Development of Vegetable Crops .................................33 Effect of Mulch on the Yield of Vegetable Crops ..................................................................34 Accumulation of Mineral Nutrients and Thrips Abundance ..................................................36 Morphological Characteristics of Plants and Thrips Population ............................................37 Role of Amblyseius swirskii in Biological Control .................................................................37 Effect of Reflective Plastic Mulch on Predatory or Parasitic Insects .....................................38 Research Objectives ................................................................................................................39 2 EFFECTIVENESS OF DIFFERENT PLASTIC MULCHES IN MANAGING MELON THRIPS ON SIX FIELD-GROWN VEGTABLE CROPS IN SOUTHERN FLORIDA ......40 Introduction .............................................................................................................................40 Materials and Methods ...........................................................................................................44 Study Area, Crop Varieties, Plastic Mulches, Field Preparation, Plot Design, and Mulch Placement .........................................................................................................44 Crop Establishment .........................................................................................................45 Crop Management ...........................................................................................................46 Leaf Samples ...................................................................................................................46 5 Leaf Mineral Nutrients ....................................................................................................47 Trichome Density Estimation ..........................................................................................48 Weather Data ...................................................................................................................49 Data Analyses ..................................................................................................................49 Results.....................................................................................................................................50 Effects of Mulches and Interactions Between Date and Mulch on the Abundance of Melon Thrips ................................................................................................................50 Adult density ............................................................................................................50 Larval density ...........................................................................................................50 Total numbers of melon thrips .................................................................................51 Effects of Crops and Interactions Between Date and Crop on the Abundance of Melon Thrips ................................................................................................................52 Adult density ............................................................................................................52 Larval density ...........................................................................................................53 Total numbers of melon thrips .................................................................................54 Date Effect on the Abundance of Melon Thrips .............................................................54 Adult density ............................................................................................................54 Larval density ...........................................................................................................55 Total numbers of melon thrips .................................................................................55 Weather Condition ...........................................................................................................55 Trichome Density ............................................................................................................55 Leaf Mineral Nutrients ....................................................................................................56 Discussion ...............................................................................................................................56 Mulch Effects ..................................................................................................................56 Crop Effects .....................................................................................................................60