Greenhouse thrips adults are mostly black, except for the tip of the abdomen, which is reddish brown. Bean thrips is dark brown with yellow marks on their antennae. The thrips life cycle includes the egg, two actively feeding nymphal stages, nonfeeding prepupa and pupa stage, and the adult. Metamorphosis is between gradual and complete. The life cycle from egg to adult may be completed in as short a time as 2 weeks when the weather is warm.
Thrips prefer to feed in rapidly growing tissue.
Feces may remain on leaves or fruit long after thrips have left. Infestations reduce the aesthetic quality of landscapes but usually do not seriously harm or kill woody plants. Greenhouse thrips feeding on avocado fruit causes a blotchy, dark brown scar, whereas on citrus it causes a blotchy, silvery scar often over a large portion of the fruit surface, especially where fruits are touching each other or dense foliage. Western flower thrips feed primarily on herbaceous plants, but high populations occasionally damage continuously or late blossoming flowers on woody plants such as roses. When thrips populations are high on roses, flower buds may become deformed and fail to open.