To evaluate the impact of an electromagnetic field on thrips, New Zealand flower thrips, Thrips obscuratus (Crawford), were contained in a pipette that was suspended in an acrylic cylinder containing deionized water. Electrodes, set 85 mm apart at each end of the cylinder, were in contact with the water. Voltages of between 10 and 100 kV d.c., as impulses or in steady state, were applied to the electrodes. Voltages of 10 and 15 kV applied in steady state did not kill all of the thrips. Only 2% of thrips remained alive when a voltage of 20 kV was applied for 10 sec. Complete mortality was achieved with 25 or 30 kV for 5 and 10 sec. None of the impulse trains, varying from 50 to 100 kV and 20 to 60 impulses, killed thrips or caused thrips to become moribund. Thrips were killed when exposed to 20 kV and 10 pulses when electrodes were modified and placed very close together.