The predatory mites Amblyseius cucumeris (Oudemans) is successfully used for thrips control in
Dutch sweet pepper greenhouses, but in Southern Europe it appears not very effective. This
might be caused by the high temperatures in combination with low humidity conditions.
Therefore we are looking for control agents that originate from southern regions and are more
Amblyseius cucumeris compared with A. swirskii in cages
The second experiment was done in 4 cages (3x1x2 m) in an experimental greenhouse. 5
flowering sweet pepper plants of 60 cm height were placed in each cage. All cages were treated
different (see table 2). To monitor thrips and predator populations, 5 leaves and 1 flower per plant
(25 leaves and 5 flowers per cage) were monitored every week from day 13 onwards.