What are they and how do you fight the “black bugs” that have appeared in the city and Greater Buenos Aires?

The ace high temperatures and oppressive heat without rain that a large part of the country has been experiencing for several days, in particular the central region, has brought with it an invasion of tiny tiny insects called thrips.

Many thought they were bird mites, or even pigeon lice, but in reality they are thrips, tiny insects that measure a few millimeters and that for a few days They invaded several sectors of the AMBA.

The scientific name for these little animals is Caliothrips phaseoli and belong to the genus Thysanoptera. Many people expressed the discomfort caused by the presence of these insects, because due to the heat wave, they began to flutter and climb everywhere, including They complained of itching.

According to the description given by the National pest surveillance and monitoring system (Session), the insect presents rear of reticulated head and thorax, forewings with two light areas running across them like bands and the legs are dark with the tips of the shins light. The larval forms are light yellow in color.

The females insert single eggs into the leaves or other parts of the plant, where the nymphs feed. The egg-adult cycle is completed in about two weeks, and there are many generations per year. Due to their size and location in protected parts of plants, it is difficult to detect them, the appearance of black spots (frass) on the leaves is an indication of the presence of thrips.

Thrips are among the arthropods whose populations are more abundant in soybean cultivation, especially in Brazil and Argentina. Despite their small size, thrips are among the most important agricultural pests in the world, causing damage to extensive, fruit and ornamental crops,” points out the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA).

Thousands of people have noticed the presence of tiny blackheads on their skin and clothes and subsequent itching. Adult thrips are dark gray almost black in color and measure just over 1 millimeter. length. Even in the city and suburbs, clothes that had just been washed and hung on the clothesline became a sort of chromatic attractor and became impregnated with hundreds of thrips.

Among the solutions to combat this scourge are potash soap spray and chromatic traps (pieces of brightly colored plastic painted with oil).

On social networks, Internet users have complained about the invasion of these insects in clothes, swimming pools and even their own skin.. “The weekend the pool was full of that, we thought it was ash. They are like fleas that itch and leave marks,” some have said. “I was riding my bike and at one point my eyes started burning. I thought it was ash, until I saw his arms were full of little black bugs,” another said.

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