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Pear Thrips

Taeniothrips inconsequens[3]

Pear thrips are tiny thrips, introduced from Europe, that feed inside the opening buds of sugar maple, fruit trees and other hardwoods each spring.[1][2]

Group
Insect
Order
Thysanoptera
Family
Thripidae
Sources
3 cited
Updated
2026-10-17

No licensed photo of this species is available yet; the identification notes below describe what to look for.

On this page
  1. Identification
  2. Where it lives
  3. Biology
  4. Damage and signs
  5. Health risk
  6. Control
  7. Related profiles
  8. Common questions
  9. Sources

How to identify it

  • Adults are slender, about 1.5 mm long and brownish-black, with narrow, nearly veinless wings fringed with long hairs.[1]
  • Every adult in North America is a female; they reproduce without mating.[1][2]
  • Larvae are pale white and translucent and feed on the new leaves alongside the adults.[1]

Where it lives

Introduced into California from Europe in 1904; it is now a periodic pest of sugar maple in the Northeast, including Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.[1][2]

Biology and life cycle

There is one generation a year. Adults become active in April and May, around the time sugar maple leaves flush, and fly into opening buds to feed.[1][2]

Females lay eggs in flower stems and leaf petioles, leaving small brown scars.[1]

Feeding is usually over by early June; pear thrips pupate in the soil and spend the winter there as pupae.[1]

Damage and signs

  • Feeding in buds leaves tattered, mottled, distorted and dwarfed leaves, with blister-like scars on veins and petioles; heavy outbreaks can defoliate trees.[1]
  • Injury is worst in slow springs when buds stay closed longer; when leaves expand quickly, trees usually escape with less damage.[1]
  • Otherwise healthy maples that lose up to two-thirds of their leaves can refoliate within a few weeks and usually recover.[1]
  • In outbreak years pear thrips also attack fruit trees in bloom; feeding can scar developing nectarines, and blossom injury on apple has been reported in New England.[2]

Health risk

None to people or pets.[1][2]

Control

Prevention

Outbreak years are followed by years of little damage, so occasional outbreaks on landscape maples can usually be tolerated.[1]

Biological control

Insect-killing fungi, including Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium, have been found infecting pear thrips in the canopy and the soil.[1]

Pesticides

Sprays rarely work on shade trees: adults arrive before leaf-out and feed hidden inside buds, out of reach of contact insecticides.[1]

Common questions

Why are my sugar maple's new leaves tattered and mottled?
Pear thrips feeding inside the opening buds is a common cause, especially in springs when buds open slowly.[1]
How do I check for pear thrips?
At bloom, tap blossoms over a light yellow surface and look for the tiny dark adults; larvae show up when blossoms are pulled apart.[1][2]

Sources

  1. UMass Extension Landscape, Nursery and Urban Forestry Program (Landscape Insect & Mite Guide), “Taeniothrips inconsequens (Pear Thrips).” www.umass.edu/agriculture-food-environment/landscape/publications-resources/insect-mite-guide/taeniothrips-inconsequens (accessed 2026-10-16)
  2. Penn State Extension, “Tree Fruit Insect Pest - Pear Thrips (updated Feb. 25, 2026).” extension.psu.edu/tree-fruit-insect-pest-pear-thrips (accessed 2026-10-16)
  3. iNaturalist, “Taeniothrips inconsequens taxon page (order and family).” www.inaturalist.org/taxa/1089931 (accessed 2026-10-06)

Updated 2026-10-17. Built from sourced records. Spot an error? Tell us.