Gladiolus thrips are believed to be an introduced pest from Africa, where gladioli are native. The thrips are brought into previously uninfested fields or greenhouses on infested corms. These rather sluggish thrips can overwinter at any stage on stored corms or on plants growing in greenhouses. Females deposit 100 to 200 eggs. Many times females greatly out-number the males in a population and parthenogenesis occurs.
Parthenogenetic females produce eggs that develop into males.
Temperature greatly determines the duration of each stage. During the warm growing season the development of the gladiolus thrips can occur in about 2 weeks. With such rapid development, the thrips can have nine or more generations outside during the growing season. The eggs are deposited in the leaves of gladioli or in the corms in storage. Larvae and pupae can be found in the buds or leaf sheaths, although the larvae often drop to the ground to transform into the quiescent pupae.