Thrips feed on a wide variety of crop plants including the following.

Adult thrips are small (approx. 1 mm long) with pale bodies and transparent wings notable for fringes They damage plants by sucking the nutrient-rich sap from the vascular tissues of the plant. Adults feed in large numbers on younger plants.

Thrips palmi is native to the tropics and was first found in the islands of Indonesia. It is now established throughout the tropics and subtropical zones. It cannot overwinter in temperate zones, but may manage to complete 2-3 life cycles if introduced.

Frankliniella occidentalis is native to the desert southwest of the United States and can survive from seal level to sub-alpine altitudes.

Thrips have a relatively uncomplicated life cycle. It begins when adult females lay eggs in the leaves of host plants. These are preferably older plants.T. palmi clutches average 50 eggs and and those of F. occidentalis are about 200 eggs in size. The larvae feed in groups on the leaves (T. palmi) or flowers (F. occidentalis) of the host plant. They pass through four larval stages (instars) with the first two being most active. The third and fourth lead to pupation and the appearance of the adults. The adults feed on younger plants causing physical damage and also introduce viruses during their feeding. The length of the life cycle is very dependent upon temperatures.

Early detection of infestation is critical to an effective response. This is difficult because thrips are small and can easily be missed except by an experienced observer. Correct identification require careful examination under the microscope.

Thanks to a combination of innate resistance and patterns of behavior, thrips are difficult to control by insecticide spraying and there is no general agreement on useful insecticides or treatment practices. Cultural practices are also relatively ineffective.

The most useful approach to thrip control appears to be the use of natural predators. These include parasitic wasps that lay eggs in larvae and predatory mites and thrips. Some fungi, including Beauveria bassiana, are also used to kill thrips.

Although there has been an interest in the use of insects as anticrop weapons for some years, including German interest in World War II. the appearance of these thrips on the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) lists of potential biological agents was unexpected. They are considered serious pests capable of causing severe crop damage and require stringent quarantine, but are less well known than pests such as the Colorado potato beetle.

The reason for this is largely because of an incident in Cuba in the late 1990's. Cuba under Fidel Castro has accused the United States of being behind the outbreak of disease affecting crops on more than one occassion. In October 1996, a US aircraft registered aircraft flying over Cuba was seen to releasing what looked like smoke.The flight plan taking the plane over Cuban territory had been approved by the Cuban government. Shortly after the flight was observed, there was a serious outbreak of T. palmi on farms under its flight path. Cuba claimed that the the thrips had been spread by the flight and demanded a review of the incident under Article V of the BTWC. The US denial of the charges and its explanation of the observations of the Cubans were convincing to almost all of the members of the committee investigating the claim. However, the incident seems to have brought these pests to the attention of the arms control community.