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Thrips diversity and Frankliniella occidentalis trends on three melon cultivars at Biskra, Algeria

Globally, thrips pest of agro-ecosystems are well studied. Nevertheless, in Algeria this insect group remains poorly known. The research was conducted to determine thrips composition and population changes of F. occidentalis on three melon cultivar. The study highlighted six thrips species on three melon cultivars (Star plus, DRM and Mimosa), including two of economic importance pests, namely Frankliniella occidentalis and Thrips tabaci. The remaining species are: Odontothrips loti, Aeolothrips intermedius, T. minutissimus and Melanthrips fuscus. The western flowers thrips (WFT) F. occidentalis was eudominant species, while T. tabaci was subrecedent. Blue sticky traps allow detecting thrips early for monitoring and from crop development starting. A positive and significant relationship was observed between thrips abundance in traps and WFT recovered from flowers and leaves on all cultivars. The highest numbers of WFT were recorded on DRM flowers and Star plus leaves while the least numbers were noticed on Mimosa flowers and leaves. F. occidentalis flight activity was observed early in the growing season. Similar trend of thrips population changes was recorded during crop season. Nevertheless, one to two peaks of F. occidentalis population were registered on flowers and leaves on all cultivars. They were mainly observed in April when temperatures were high and humidity low, their numbers were not considerable. No fruits damage was observed in situ on all cultivars. This work allowed to improve knowledge about thrips linked to some melon cultivars the most used in greenhouse in the region of Biskra. The presence of these pests can be a source of concern for farmers. Extending monitoring to other crops and localities to know their status and distribution remains a priority due to direct damage caused and virus transmission hazard.