Thrips are tiny – how does Croptimus see them on 4 MP cameras?

Croptimus detects thrips primarily via damage signatures (silvery rasping, faecal dots) rather than counting individual insects. Damage pattern density correlates with population density at scale.

Can the model tell western flower thrips from onion thrips?

Not by image alone – both produce similar damage patterns. Species-level identification typically needs sticky-trap microscopy. The model flags "thrips damage detected" so the IPM team knows when to do that sampling.

pest

Thrips

Frankliniella occidentalis · Thrips tabaci

Tiny elongated insects causing silvery feeding scars on leaves and flowers. Croptimus catches damage patterns before populations explode.

Thysanopteran
Rasping feeder
Virus vector
Cryptic

Signs Croptimus looks for

Silvery scarring on leaves where thrips have rasped tissue
Black faecal dots in feeding areas
Tiny elongated insects inside flowers when shaken onto white paper
Bronzed appearance on heavily-fed leaves
Deformed fruit set on tomato and pepper from flower feeding

Recommended action

Release Orius or Amblyseius beneficials, hang blue sticky traps for monitoring, and remove infested flowers if at very heavy pressure. Croptimus flags damage patterns so beneficial timing matches population peak.

Thrips are the “invisible” pest of greenhouse production. They live inside flowers, feed cryptically, and can vector tomato spotted wilt virus. By the time damage is visible on a walk-through, populations are usually already past the action threshold.

Croptimus’s damage-pattern detection catches the early-stress signal before populations explode – and crucially, it can run inside flowers where direct counting is hard.

Frequently asked

Thrips are tiny – how does Croptimus see them on 4 MP cameras?

Croptimus detects thrips primarily via damage signatures (silvery rasping, faecal dots) rather than counting individual insects. Damage pattern density correlates with population density at scale.
Can the model tell western flower thrips from onion thrips?

Not by image alone – both produce similar damage patterns. Species-level identification typically needs sticky-trap microscopy. The model flags "thrips damage detected" so the IPM team knows when to do that sampling.

See Croptimus catch this live.

20-minute call. We run this exact class on a frame from your crop, send detections back within the week.

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