The western flower thrips is one of the most notorious pests in the agricultural industry. These insects are native to North America, but their ability to be moved easily and resist pesticides allowed them to spread to the rest of the world. Western flower thrips have a wide range of host plants, including important flowers and fruits such as strawberries, grapes, apricots, tomatoes, roses, carnations, and many more.

This elusive creature is particularly known for its piercing and sucking mouthparts, adapted through evolution to extract the contents of plant cells, causing notable damage to foliage, flowers, and fruit. With wings that bear a unique fringe of hairs, greenhouse thrips delicately navigates the subtropical and tropical climates, favoring greenhouse environments where it often becomes a challenge for cultivators, feasting upon a diverse array of ornamental and agricultural vegetation in its path.