Egg - The minute, whitish egg is concealed within plant tissue. Pupa - The pupa ranges in length from 0.6 to 1 mm. Its body is yellowish-orange, but the wing pads and legs are pearly white. Host Plants - Tobacco thrips attack bean, cocklebur, cotton, crabgrass, dewberry, Irish potato, oat, peanut, pea, tobacco, tomato, and many other plants. Damage - Several species of thrips damage peanut leaves, but the tobacco thrips is the principal, damaging species in North Carolina.
Thrips are most damaging to young peanut plants.
As the upper surfaces of developing leaflets unfold, they appear scarred and even deformed. Damage is usually minor but, with heavy insect infestations in combination with other stresses, stunting occurs during early development and the damaged peanuts recover slowly. In North Carolina, tobacco thrips probably overwinter as adult females under ground litter or in other protected places. In the spring, adult thrips migrate to peanuts from small grain crops, grasses, and weeds. Each female deposits 50 to 60 eggs in the tissue of the foliage.