In tropical Africa these shiny, black, slender and small-winged insects causes damage and distortion to cowpea through feeding on leaves, fruits or petals. Grain yield losses of between 20 and 100% have been reported caused by Legume flower thrips on cowpea from different parts of Africa. The thrips mainly cause yield losses through abscission of buds, flower abortion and pod malformation making them unfit for the export market.