Most research has focused on thrips species that feed on economically significant crops. Some species are predatory, but most of them feed on pollen and the chloroplasts harvested from the outer layer of plant epidermal and mesophyll cells. They prefer tender parts of the plant, such as buds, flowers and new leaves. Besides feeding on plant tissues, the common blossom thrips feeds on pollen grains and on the eggs of mites. When the larva supplements its diet in this way, its development time and mortality is reduced, and adult females that consume mite eggs increase their fecundity and longevity.