(For a list of insects affecting onions in the Northeast, see http://web.entomology.cornell.edu/shelton/veg-insects-ne/crops.html).

Onions are annually valued at about $50 million in New York.  Their main pests are the onion thrips and onion maggot.

Listed below are a few of our publications in this area (see complete publication list above).

1. Li, X-W, J. Fail, P. Wang, J-N Feng and A. M. Shelton. 2014. Performance of arrhenotokous and thelytokous Thrips tabaci on onions and cabbage and its implications on evolution and pest management. J. Econ. Entomol 107: 1526-1534.
2. Diaz-Montano, M. Fuchs, B. A. Nault, J. Fail and A. M. Shelton.  2011.  Onion thrips: a global pest of increasing concern in onion.  J. Econ. Entomol. 104: 1-13. (PDF reprint here)
3. Nault, B. A. and A. M. Shelton.  2010.  Impact of insecticide efficacy on developing action thresholds for pest management: a case study of onion thrips on onions.  J. Econ. Entomol. 103: 1315-1326. (PDF reprint here)
4. Larentzaki, E., A. M. Shelton and J. Plate.  2008.  Effect of kaolin particle film on Thrips tabaci oviposition, feeding and development on onions: a lab and field case study.  Crop Protection 27: 727-734. (PDF reprint here)
5. Shelton, A. M., J.-Z Zhao, B. A. Nault, J. Plate, F. R. Musser and E. Larentzaki.  2006.  Patterns of insecticide resistance in onion thrips, Thrips tabaci, in onion fields in New York.  J. Econ. Entomol. 99:1798-1804. (PDF reprint here)