ABSTRACT.1. A laboratory technique for measuring the number of pollen grains consumed by thrips is described.2.Thrips imaginisBagnall andThrips obscuratus(Crawford) (Thripidae) were studied particularly on pollen of the kiwifruitActinidia deliciosa(A. Chevalier) Liang&Ferguson in New Zealand, andEchium plantagineumL. in Australia.3. Mean daily feeding rates (in grains per thrips per day) ranged from 29 to 843, with an individual rate as high as 1626 forT.imaginislarvae II onE. plantagineum.4. The time taken to feed on a single grain was proportional to grain volume, and decreased with temperature.5. Daily feeding rates were significantly different between pollens, and were higher for smaller grains. The total volume of pollen contents consumed and the total time spent ingesting this volume per thrips per day may be constant with respect to pollen species.6. Daily feeding rates were equivalent to 0.2–0.7% of the average total pollen production of a flower per thrips per day.7. Extrapolation of the daily feeding rates suggests that pollen damage by thrips could sometimes be reducing crop yield or plant fitnes