Ugh. Chili Thrips have decimated my roses in the last month. I'm not a happy camper right now.
These thrips made their way from Florida across Texas and arrived in So. Cal. about 2 years ago (give or take).
Unless I missed it, I don't recall anyone on the rose forum discussing them...but beware...they may be coming your way if you're in the Central or Northern Calif. area.
Their damage happens very quickly when temperatures begin to soar into the high 80's and it aint pretty.
Not only do they attack roses, they also severely damage peppers, tomatoes and some shrubs. Luckily, I've only had them on roses. I don't grow anything edible in my garden and if I did, they'd probably have attacked those as well.

So far, I'm following a double process spray regimen which includes a soil drench followed by a foliar spray. Not noticing any results as yet.
Here is a link to view the damage these blasted thrips cause.
https://www.bing.com/images/se...

Look carefully at these photos so you can see the damage and keep an eye out for them in your gardens.
I hope this link works.

In addition, these thrips don't seem to like any of the Iceberg Roses (White, Burgundy or Pink) in my garden, anyway. But they do attack every other rose I grow.
And I thought sawfly larvae damage was bad...……these thrips are 50 times worse.

Yes, I've heard of chili thrips and how awful they are.. I wish you good luck with getting rid of them!

Mike, folks in So Cal have been complaining about chili thirps for the last couple of years decimating their gardens. You are right, I have not seen much discussion on here about them however. I have been waiting for them to show up in my yard. I know it is just a matter of time for me. I have everything in my garden that they love!

In a scientific report, I saw that some varieties of lady birds and lacewings will eat them. Given all the citrus that is grown here, I expect the farmers to bring out the insecticide "big guns" (if they haven't already) for those things.

I love lacewings and ladybirds (ladybugs). So cool that they can help.

Update: It "appears" that these pests only strike once a year, as per where I live anyway. This may not be the case elsewhere, but after having picked off all the damaged parts of my roses ( almost as drastic as a winter pruning) and doing a foliar spraying AND a soil drench, they have rebounded incredibly and are blooming like crazy right now. As usual, this will be the last bloom flush until spring.
Time will tell when summer comes along next year.

Mike I can only imagine how frustrated you must be at the damage these pests do to your roses, I hope you are able to figure out a way to get it under control. Thankfully I haven't had to deal with chili thrips yet.

My only hope is that this terrible scourge will hate my bitter cold Michigan winters! We already have enough pests destroying our roses.

Bonnie: I'm surprised you haven't gotten them yet in Texas. You're lucky.
Seil: You may be spared from them because of your winter cold, they seem to overwinter here in the soil since we don't freeze.

We don't get Japanese Beetles here (yet...) but these thrips seems to follow the same weather pattern the JB's do on the East coast.

I fought with them while I lived in FL. When they first arrived in Fl., no one knew what the heck they were. We found out fast. There was only one way to keep them at bay. Bring out the heavy stuff. They don't like cold weather and will not survive a good freeze. This is one of the great things I like about my area. Cold enough to kill a bunch of bad bugs but I not froze solid for months on end. I can put up with the Japanese Beatles, but I HATED Chili Thrips.