Preferred food:
Minute Pirate Bugs, Orius spp., also known as flower bugs, are one of the most common general predators in field crops. Emerging early in the spring, their diet consists of a variety of small pests including thrips, whitefly, spider mites, aphids, psyllids, small caterpillars and insect eggs. They particularly love to eat thrips and are known to attack the adult thrips; you may even see them from time to time with thrips stuck on their rostrum.
Release Orius indoors or out. Minute Pirate Bugs reproduce quickly, completing a total life cycle in just 3-4 weeks, making them effective at handling serious infestations quickly. Adults lay their eggs within available plant tissue. Nymphs emerge after 4-5 days and they become adults in 7-10 days. Minute Pirate Bugs will move efficiently throughout the infested plants, and will continue to kill even when they do not need to eat. Be sure to leave suitable habitat for them to overwinter as they will establish in most locations quite well.
Release Rates:
For maintenance, release 1 to 2 Orius per plant in greenhouses or 1 to 4 Orius per plant in hot spot areas outdoors. When treating a serious whitefly, aphid, thrips or other pest infestation, we recommend releasing up to 500 Orius per 250 sq. ft. area. For field crops, we recommend releasing between 100 and 2,000 Orius per acre, depending on the level of infestation.
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