Summary * Pest managers were surveyed to benchmark mirid management practices * Many mirid sprays were applied when mirids were below threshold and fruit retention was high (>85%). * This is largely because pest managers were not allowing for differences between thresholds for visual and beat sheet sampling * Spraying for mirids at below threshold levels provided no yield advantage, but increased costs and the risk of flaring secondary pests * The results therefore validate the recommended thresholds. Emphasis needs to be placed on giving pest managers confidence in mirid thresholds so that they will adjust their interpretation of their counts according to sampling technique.