Due to its widespread distribution and known damages, Enneothrips flavens Moulton is considered the major pest of the peanut crop in Brazil. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the behavior of four runner peanut cultivars under natural field infestation of this insect. The experiments were carried out in the experimental area of FCAV/UNESP, Jaboticabal, state of São Paulo, Brazil, using a completely randomized block design with 4 treatments and 6 replications. The cultivars studied were IAC Caiapó, IAC 125, IAC 147 and Runner IAC 886. Insect infestation and damage, as well as plant behavior were evaluated as to the number of nymphae and adults, percentage of attacked leaflets, symptoms of attack intensity, number of apical buds/plant, plant dry weight, yield of unshelled pods/plant and 100 kernel weight. No significant difference was noted between cultivars regarding the level of E. flavens (adult and nymphae) infestation. The largest nymphae infestation was recorded at the 15-41 DAE (days after emergency) period. As for the adults, the largest infestation occurred between 15 and 48 days after emergence. The evaluation of yield performance under thrips (E. flavens) infestation suggested that the cultivar IAC Caiapó behaved as tolerant to the attack of this insect.
Thrips; Arachis hypogaea; host plant resistance