Redbanded
thrips prefer young foliage and their feeding and causes
leaf distortion and leaf drop. The thrips destroys the cells
on which it feeds, causes some leaf distortion, injury to the
fruit, and leaves unsightly dark colored droplets or blotches
of excrement on the leaf surface. A more serious injury is
leaf drop, which may denude trees. Honeydew excretory
products from red-banded thrips and other insect infesta-tions fall to leaves, fruits or objects beneath, giving rise to
the objectionable fruit-degrading, black sooty mold