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ok so there's this thing going around on TikTok about "if you soak your strawberries in salt water worms come out" and I
first off they're thrips, not worms
Thrips are insects SO tiny that when they "fly" (yes! wings!) they're more like air plankton.
Some thrips are micropredators that eat aphids & mites! These thrips are very good friends. Here have an extreme close-up.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/anthonywg/11690981404/
Thrips are insects SO tiny that when they "fly" (yes! wings!) they're more like air plankton.
Some thrips are micropredators that eat aphids & mites! These thrips are very good friends. Here have an extreme close-up.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/anthonywg/11690981404/
Predatory thrips are a super important part of biological pest control! Without them, strawberry plants can get overrun with spider mites, aphids, and other pests that just. fuck the strawberry plants right up.
When there aren't any pests around, predatory thrips eat pollen, nectar mold spores, & other random stuff they find sitting around. So they can be ready & waiting when the pests come back ( :
Other thrips like to eat nectar and plant sap. They're so tiny that when they bite, they only puncture a few cells & slurp out the juice. They're so small that they only do any real damage if there's thousands of them- aka if the crop's ecology is REALLY out of whack.
One of these plant-eating thrips's favorite place to hang out is FLOWERS.
That's because flowers are tender & juicy & full of well-hydrated cells with thin walls. Perfect for tiny thrips lips!
Here's one chillin in a strawberry flower! (source: https://ipm.illinois.edu/ifvn/volume09/frveg0906.html)
That's because flowers are tender & juicy & full of well-hydrated cells with thin walls. Perfect for tiny thrips lips!
Here's one chillin in a strawberry flower! (source: https://ipm.illinois.edu/ifvn/volume09/frveg0906.html)
They also live on fruit sometimes, because 1) fruits used to be flowers so hey! thrips are already there! and 2) fruit are also tender & juicy.
The most common plant-eating thrips is Frankliniella occidentalis. They're native to the southwest United States, and they love dry weather. If it's damp they just don't do so well.
Key points about thrips:
1) The only way to 100% get rid of them is carpet-bomb the field with insecticide & that probably wouldn't even work, they're unbothered
2) you don't WANT to get rid of them- more thrips species are beneficial than significant pests.
1) The only way to 100% get rid of them is carpet-bomb the field with insecticide & that probably wouldn't even work, they're unbothered
2) you don't WANT to get rid of them- more thrips species are beneficial than significant pests.
ok now I wanna circle back to that whole "soaking in salt water for 30 minutes" thing
The thrips are already living out there just walking around on the surface of the fruit. The only thing soaking in salt water does is make them salty & soggy.
The thrips are already living out there just walking around on the surface of the fruit. The only thing soaking in salt water does is make them salty & soggy.
They didn't "come out of the strawberry after 30 min in salt water." They were always there, chillin on the strawberry's skin.
it would seem a TikTok-er was just dicking around with salt water & fruit & that's … when they finally noticed strawberries have thrips on them
it would seem a TikTok-er was just dicking around with salt water & fruit & that's … when they finally noticed strawberries have thrips on them
Most US strawberries from California, where flower thrips are from! They love the dry weather!
They're native wildlife, and they're an important part of crop ecology.
They're native wildlife, and they're an important part of crop ecology.
Most importantly: eating strawberries with thrips on them is WAY healthier than strawberries with NO thrips on them. Eliminating every single thrips makes pest problems WORSE, & would take so much chemical application that. like. you wouldn't want to eat the strawberries anymore.
Every single strawberry that you have ever eaten in your life probably had a thrips on it
you never noticed
you didn't see, taste, or otherwise notice them, & nothing bad happened from eating them. because they are nearly microscopic & they are harmless
you never noticed
you didn't see, taste, or otherwise notice them, & nothing bad happened from eating them. because they are nearly microscopic & they are harmless
Also, could the internet pls find something else to freak out about besides strawberry thrips
I had a talk about this with my grandma, who grew up on a farm & should have known better, after she forwarded a panicked email about bugs on strawberries
ten years ago
I had a talk about this with my grandma, who grew up on a farm & should have known better, after she forwarded a panicked email about bugs on strawberries
ten years ago
