New Zealand thrips is what some Australian berry growers are calling the flower thrips that wrecked New Zealand strawberries. The species behind that name is usually eastern flower thrips (Frankliniella intonsa). It was reported on berry farms in the Caboolture area, Queensland, in 2026. Nambour is in the same strawberry belt.
This page is for commercial Australian growers (and anyone searching New Zealand thrips, eastern flower thrips, intonsa, or thrips on strawberries). Thrips are a named pest on the Py-Bo label (APVMA 53738) for fruit and vegetable crops, cut flowers and ornamental plants. 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. Get a lens or a lab if you need the species.
Related: Py-Bo Natural Pyrethrum Concentrate · 1-day withholding · Aphids and thrips spray timing
What growers mean by New Zealand thrips
In New Zealand strawberry sheds the hard flower-thrips problem has been Frankliniella intonsa (eastern flower thrips) plus western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis). Intonsa is the one NZ growers talk about as the species that built up in mid-summer and scarred fruit. The official common name in Australia is eastern flower thrips, not New Zealand thrips. If a Sunshine Coast or Caboolture grower says New Zealand thrips, they are usually pointing at that NZ strawberry story, not at New Zealand flower thrips (Thrips obscuratus), which is a different animal.
Queensland strawberry blocks can still have plague thrips, western flower thrips or chilli thrips (Scirtothrips dorsalis) in the same week. Those are all thrips. The spray claim on Py-Bo is thrips the droplets can hit, not one Latin name. Identification still matters for monitoring and for biosecurity reporting.
Damage on strawberry
- Adults tiny (about 1–2 mm), yellow-brown, fringed wings. A 10× lens helps.
- They feed and lay in flowers and on young fruit. Eggs go into the tissue.
- Symptoms: bronzed or scarred fruit skin, distorted berries, damaged stigmas and anthers, poor set when numbers are high in blossom.
- Flower insides, the calyx and fruit-touch points are where a contact spray has to go. Missed tissue equals live thrips.
If you think it is new to the district
Eastern flower thrips on SEQ berry farms was a biosecurity find in 2026. Unusual thrips activity is still worth reporting: Exotic Plant Pest Hotline 1800 084 881. That is not a Py-Bo instruction. It is how the district finds out what is actually in the flowers.
Pyrethroids are not pyrethrins
Flower thrips, especially western flower thrips, are famous for breaking man-made pyrethroid spray programs. That is because a pyrethroid is one synthetic ester with one mode of action. Natural pyrethrum in Py-Bo, knocks down on contact, then UV breaks them down. Field resistance to pyrethrum is extremely rare, because pyrethrum is a mix of six esters. Coverage still decides it: if you hit them, they will 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, often inside a week at peak. Do not treat Py-Bo as a residual.
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 to make up for a dry flower or a dry calyx. Change the job the sprayer is doing. More on coverage: spray coverage.
- Slow down. Spray-laden air needs time to replace the air in the canopy. Faster ground speed is the usual reason the far side and the flower insides stay dry.
- Aim at the flowers, not the row tops. For New Zealand thrips / eastern flower thrips the target is blossom, young fruit, calyx and the undersides of new leaves. If the boom is set for the leaf canopy, the flowers can be under-sprayed.
- Air just enough. Enough air to rustle the canopy and leave a light mist on the far side. A blast that strips the row or hits the ground is waste, and it stirs dust onto wet fruit.
- Check with water-sensitive paper. Pin cards in open flowers, under the calyx, and on the far side of the plant. Spray a test pass. If the cards in the flower are still yellow, the thrips in that flower were not contacted. Adjust angle, volume, droplet or speed and test again before you do the block.
- Read the kill, not the tank. Mix 10 mL of Py-Bo into 10 L. Spray 3–5 infested plants with your usual gear. Beat sheet before and after. Knockdown is in minutes if you hit them. Survivors mean change droplet, nozzle angle or travel speed, then test again.
- Worn nozzles lie. Output drifts as discs wear. Confirm what is actually coming out before you blame the product.
Ask at Nutrien Ag, E.E. Muir, Elders, Lindsay Rural or Fernland, or buy Py-Bo here.
FAQ
What is New Zealand thrips?
A grower name. On strawberries it usually means eastern flower thrips (Frankliniella intonsa), the species NZ berry growers have been fighting, now found on SEQ berry farms. Confirm with a lens or a lab. It is still thrips on the Py-Bo label.
Is New Zealand 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.
Why are there still live thrips after I sprayed?
They were not contacted, or adults flew off, or eggs in the tissue and pupae off the plant were never a foliar target. Check the flower insides with water-sensitive paper or a beat sheet. Then change speed, angle or droplet. Do not raise the rate above 1 mL/L.
Can I spray Py-Bo on strawberries for thrips?
Thrips are named on the horticultural list. Fruit and vegetable crops are the labelled situation. Rate 1 mL/L, 1-day withhold, dusk because of bees. Confirm the current pack. The label is the law.