Thrips, also known as "harvest bugs," may be winged or wingless.
Adults are one-sixteenth inch long and vary in color from yellow to black. They have a complete metamorphosis. Females reproduce parthenogenetically and sexually. Unfertilized eggs produce males; fertilized eggs produce females. A generation can develop in 15 days with five generations per season. Adult females overwinter on green host plants.
Thrips move to seedling cotton from nearby weeds. Their damage causes leaves to curl upward and become "possum-eared." Injured plants become stunted and severe injury delays squaring.
