Ornamental crops include carnation, chrysanthemum, orchids, pikake, rose and tuberose. This thrips was first reported in Hawaii on the island of Kauai in 1955 and has since spread to all major islands except Molokai. General thrips injury on foliage causes a characteristic silvery appearance, eventually browning and dying. Leaf tips wither, curl and die. The undersides of leaves are spotted with small black specks.
Flowers become flecked, spotted, and deformed and many buds fail to open.
The western flower thrips is primarily a flower feeder that eats both the flower petals and pollen. They also feed on foliage of certain hosts and produce a characteristic silvery appearance of thrips damage. In addition to the direct feeding damage, extensive losses occur when this thrips vectors tomato spotted wilt tospovirus. In Hawaii, TSWV disease affects the production of several economically important vegetables and ornamental crops. TSWV is a unique virus in that it has one of the widest known host ranges of any plant virus.