I believe it's the flower of a banana, Musa sp..

Thanks Henry. With so much prey to feast on hopefully beneficial insects, "the friendlies" will increase enough in the open landscape to keep chilli thrips under control. Perhaps this is happening in Florida as I read some reports on the Florida Forum that folks had had chilli thrips in the past, but then the infestation abated. A friend wrote this on the Texas Forum: "I was living in Hawaii when whiteflies first made their appearance. It was an ugly thing. Their population exploded exponentially. Their were so many whiteflies that our ceilings were coated in them. They were absolutely everywhere. They smothered a lot of leaves in sheltered areas even though we had significant ocean breeze. It was disgusting.It took about 6 months and then they had a population implosion and it attained a balance. One never saw them. Perhaps bugs and geckos had learned to eat them. I don't know what happened. I hope some natural enemy to chilli thrips comes forth and something like this happens." Now I'm find chilli thrips are on several other plants in the garden. After seeing suspicious leaves I've ID'd them on Coral vine, Henry Duelberg salvia and Texas smoke tree by tapping the affected leaf and looking at the tiny yellow dots moving around with a 10 power jewelers loop. And I do mean tiny. They are less than the size of a period and barely visible in bright light on white paper with my reading glasses on. They are much smaller than flower thips, and looked just like the photos. Also several pale colored tiny spiders quickly scurried off the paper. They were just a little larger than the chilli thrips. Hopefully they were eating them. This makes one reluctant to spray even with spinosad, but knocking them back before winter may significantly reduced their population next summer. I don't know. Right now I'm trying to reduce the number of the most susceptible plants.

Hi Rusty, I'm one of the regulars at the San Antonio swap. Have also been attending the Central Texas swap for over 10 years. It's now held in Buda twice a year if you'd also like to attend that one. Please email directly about anything you might like to discuss. Would love to talk a trade with you, since we have a mutual affection for some of the same plant families. I'm sure it's tough here compared to England, but welcome to Texas. It'll get better. (We hope.) Would enjoy hearing from you. Please see "My Page" and send an email. I don't know if I'll find this again. :-) patty

Tosh, you will love San Antonio!! I live nearby and have always enjoyed the Riverwalk!! I've never seen it dirty!! The River Center Mall is built over the river in downtown San Antonio. I love to browse the mall. There is an Imax theater in the Mall too. You can take a barge ride along the river and the guide tells you fun facts about the city. Also the Alamo is nearby and a must to visit if you enjoy history. Also the River Walk is a good night spot. There is a Howl at the Moon which is so much fun. And one of my High School friends performs at Swigs, which is a martini bar. New Braunfels is one of my very favorite places!! I go there several times a month. Lots of antiques and German and Mexican food. Gruene is another place to visit which is actually in the New Braunfels city limits, but it's a little town all it's own. There are many antique shops and gift shops there. The river flows through and you can tube or raft on it. Several really good restaurants. The oldest dance hall in Texas is there and they have live music on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and I think on Sunday night too. Fredricksburg is another interesting little town. More antiques and gift shops. I have lived 50 miles from San Antonio all my life and I never get tired of going there. There is always a fiesta or some kind of party or celebration going on, and most of the people are very friendly. I'll be glad to help you with more information. Just click on my name and e-mail me. Oh yes, I think the Starving Artists show is in April. It is at La Villeta (sp) which is also downtown by the River Walk.