September 2026: Eastern flower thrips (Frankliniella intonsa) — the same species growers know as “New Zealand thrips” — is through south-east Queensland strawberry country. Biosecurity Queensland’s first official Australian detection was April 2026 on damaged raspberries at Elimbah (4516). ABC Rural (11 Sep 2026) reports the pest now across Moreton Bay and Sunshine Coast berry blocks — strawberries, raspberries and blackberries — with heavy early-fruit loss at peak pick. This page is for commercial Australian berry growers, not home gardens.
Thrips are a named pest on the Py-Bo label (APVMA 53738) for fruit and vegetable crops. Strawberry is a fruit crop. Always read the current APVMA-approved label. The label is the law. This page does not authorise off-label use, and it does not identify the thrips on your block.
Related: New Zealand thrips on strawberries · Py-Bo · 1-day withholding
What SEQ strawberry blocks are seeing now
From Elimbah and Caboolture (4510) through Glass House Mountains and the wider Sunshine Coast strawberry belt, blossom and young fruit are carrying F. intonsa. Public reporting in September 2026 put typical SEQ strawberry losses around half the crop on many farms, with some blocks composting the majority of fruit. Damaged berries blister and bronze; fruit stays edible but is hard to pack and splits easily in rain.
Growers say insecticide programs have not held numbers down. Predatory mites and pirate bugs remain the IPM backbone — but beneficial releases this season often started after populations were already too high to knock back. That timing gap is the harvest-close problem: blossom loaded, pick tomorrow, chemistry failing, predators not yet catching up.
That is where a contact pyrethrum fits. Py-Bo (natural pyrethrum + PBO, 80 g/L) knocks down adults the droplet hits, 1-day withhold on labelled fruit, then back to monitoring. It does not replace biocontrol. It is a short contact pass in the resistance-rotation toolkit when pick is close and the current program is not delivering.
Traps and beat sheets still decide the spray. Confirm flowers are carrying thrips you can hit before the trolley rolls.
Pyrethroids are not pyrethrins
Flower thrips — especially western flower thrips — are famous for breaking synthetic pyrethroid programs. A pyrethroid is one man-made ester with one mode of action. Natural pyrethrum in Py-Bo knocks down on contact, then UV breaks it down. Field resistance to pyrethrum that wrecks control has been very rare. Coverage still decides it: if you hit them, they die. You will not find a stronger pyrethrum concentrate (80 g/L).
How to spray Py-Bo (1 mL/L, 1-day WHP)
- Rate: 1 mL/L (100 mL/100 L).
- Contact only: insides of flowers, undersides of young leaves, calyx, fruit-touch points.
- Withhold: 1 day on labelled edible plants. Strawberries are multi-pick — spray today, pick tomorrow where the label allows.
- Bees: strawberry is in flower for months. Do not spray plants in flower while bees are foraging. Apply after dark.
- Eggs and pupae survive the first pass. Follow up when the next hatch is visible. Do not treat Py-Bo as a residual.
Can Py-Bo sit next to Orius and predatory mites?
Yes as a contact knockdown, not as a residual program. Spray at dusk when bees are gone, hit the flower insides, then let beneficials work the quiet periods. Do not treat Py-Bo as a season-long replacement for IPM — especially when predator timing was already late this year.
Getting better spray results
Py-Bo only kills thrips the droplet hits. Live ones after the spray has dried were missed, not under-dosed. Do not raise the rate above 1 mL/L. Aim at the flowers, slow down, and check with water-sensitive paper in open blossoms and under the calyx. More on coverage: spray coverage.
Ask at Nutrien Ag, E.E. Muir, Elders, Lindsay Rural or Fernland, or buy Py-Bo here.
FAQ
Where did this start in SEQ?
First official Australian detection: April 2026, Elimbah raspberry farm (postcode 4516). By September it was reported through SEQ strawberry areas including Caboolture (4510), Moreton Bay and the Sunshine Coast. Raspberries and blackberries are also affected.
Is eastern flower thrips the same as chilli thrips?
No. Chilli thrips are Scirtothrips dorsalis. Eastern flower thrips are Frankliniella intonsa. Both can be on strawberry. Both are thrips. Get the species right for monitoring; the Py-Bo claim is the named group, if the spray hits them.