A field experiment was carried out during the 2001/2002 growing season, in Campinas and Pindorama, São Paulo State, Brazil, to evaluate the influence of Enneothrips flavens Moulton (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) on development of peanut cultivars. The treatments comprised three cultivars of the upright type (IAC Tatu ST, IAC 5 and IAC 22) and three of the runner type (Runner IAC 886, Tegua and IAC Caiapo), with and without insect control. The experimental design was a split plot in completely ramdomized blocks and six replications. Main plots consisted of control and no control of thrips, and the cultivars were the subplots. For the evaluations of thrips infestation, leaf samplings were made starting at 29 days after planting (DAP). Each sample consisted of ten young leaves per plot, at the stage prior to their opening. For the evaluation of the number of buds per plant, five plants per plot were harvested from 29 DAP to the maturity stage of each cultivar. To determine the dry matter content, five plants per plot were harvested at Campinas at 29, 56, 85, 99, 112 and 125 DAP, following artificial drying. At both locations, the mean number of thrips per leaflet peaked at 56-57 DAP; in Pindorama, an early peak occurred at 29 DAP. Depending on the cultivar, the lack of control of E. flavens reduced the number of buds per plant and the vegetative growth.
Arachis hypogaea; Thysanoptera; Thripidae; host plant resistance
