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Liz Pharell

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Thrips are an insect that is known in the garden as bad pests that deform plants, discolors, and spreads diseases and all of this is true. Like most insects and animals in each ecosystem, there is a benefit to them spreading throughout the system. For thrips, it has been shown by research that thrips actually pollinate plants, and they move from one to another. Thrips are pollen eaters that end up getting covered in pollen during the feast. It has been estimated that a single thrip can carry 10 to 50 pollen grains. Plants are aware of this and emit a strange scent to attract the thrips allowing them to pollinate the plant they land on. There is a give and take within the plant world and trips know how to take and accidentally give.