What is the Difference Between Thrips and Fungus Gnats

The key difference between thrips and fungus gnats is that thrips are insects with fringed wings that primarily feed on the leaves of plants, while fungus gnats are small flies that mainly feed on fungi and organic matter in the soil and chew the roots of plants.

Microscopic and sub-microscopic pathogens, as well as insects in the environment, can cause significant damage to plants. This biotic factor directly influences the annual production of crops such as rice, wheat, barley, oats, and sorghum in the world. Thrips and fungus gnats are two insect species that damage plants.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What are Thrips 
3. What are Fungus Gnats
4. Similarities – Thrips and Fungus Gnats
5. Thrips vs Fungus Gnats in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Thrips vs Fungus Gnats

What are Thrips?

Thrips are tiny, slender insects with fringed wings. Entomologists have described almost 6000 species of thrips so far. They attack a number of vegetables, fruits, flower crops, and cereals. Some thrips species are very specific to one host, while other species feed on many host plants. For example, both onion thrips and western flower thrips attack many plants, including cereals and broadleaved crops.

Moreover, thrips feed on the lower surface of leaves, buds, flowers, and fruits. Both their larvae and adults feed by piercing the plant tissue and sucking the juices of the plants. Heavy feeding can cause premature wilting, delay in leaf development, and distortion of leaves and young shoots. Attacks of thrips may also result in premature fruit shed and cosmetic damage to the plants. Therefore, this may lead to the rejection of bananas, tomatoes, peas, etc., grown for the export market. Furthermore, thrips also indirectly work as vectors of disease-causing viruses, fungi, and bacteria. It has been identified that several species of thrips are vectors for tomato spotted wilt virus groups, which attack a wide range of crops such as bell peppers, lettuces, peas, tobacco, potatoes, ground nuts, and ornamental plants.

What are Fungus Gnats?

Fungus gnats are small flies that mainly feed on fungi and organic matter in the soil. They also feed on the roots of plants. Due to this, they can be a problem in nurseries, potted plants, greenhouses, and interior plantscapes. Moreover, the adult fungus gnats may be found in houseplants indoors.

The adult fungus gnats do not harm plants or bite people. But they are considered a nuisance. However, the larvae, when present in large numbers, mainly damage roots and stunt plant growth, particularly in seedlings and young plants. Moreover, significant root damage and plant death has been observed in interior plantscapes and in house plants when larvae are present in a high population or when they are associated with moist, organically rich soil. Furthermore, serious damages are more common in greenhouses, nurseries, and sod farms. Fungus gnats generally injure flower crops grown in greenhouses.

What are the Similarities Between Thrips and Fungus Gnats?

• Thrips and fungus gnats are two insect species that damage plants.
• Both are considered to be plant pests.
• They belong to the phylum Arthropoda.
• Both belong to the class Insecta and order Thysanoptera.
• They can cause significant damage to many crops.
• They are managed mainly by spraying chemicals such as insecticides.

What is the Difference Between Thrips and Fungus Gnats?

Thrips are insects with fringed wings that primarily feed by sucking the leaves of plants, while fungus gnats are small flies that primarily feed on fungi and organic matter in the soil but also chew the roots of plants. Thus, this is the key difference between thrips and fungus gnats. Furthermore, thrips damage bananas, tomatoes, peas, bell pepper, lettuce, tobacco, potato, ground nut, cereals, and ornamental plants. On the other hand, fungus gnats damage flower crops, houseplants, and mushroom cellars.

The below infographic presents the differences between thrips and fungus gnats in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.

Summary – Thrips vs Fungus Gnats

Thrips and fungus gnats are two insect species that damage a wide variety of plants. They are considered plant pests and can cause significant economic damage. Thrips are insects with fringed wings. They primarily feed on plant leaves. Fungus gnats are small flies. They primarily feed on fungi, organic matter in the soil, and the roots of plants. So, this summarizes the difference between thrips and fungus gnats.

Reference:

1. “How to Manage Pests.” UC IPM Online.
2. “Thrips in Greenhouse Crops – Biology, Damage and Management.” Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Thrips (265 03)” By Doc. RNDr. Josef Reischig, CSc. – Author's archive (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Fungus gnat from Commanster, Belgium 02” By James Lindsey at Ecology of Commanster (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia