Thripidae
Encyclopedia
The Thripidae are the most speciose family of thrips
, with over 290 genera representing just over two thousand species. They can be distinguished from other thrips by a saw-like ovipositor
curving downwards, narrow wings with two veins, and antennae of six to ten antennomeres with stiletto-like forked sense cones on antennal segments III and IV.
They are considered to be among the more derived of thrips, having evolved many traits key to specializing as cryptophilous phytovores, living in the narrow spaces at the bases of leaves and within flowers.
Several species are economically significant pests, some of them invasive
. Almost all of them are typical thrips which belong in the largest subfamily, the Thripinae
.
Thrips on the UF
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Thrips
Thrips are tiny, slender insects with fringed wings . Other common names for thrips include thunderflies, thunderbugs, storm flies, thunderblights, and corn lice...
, with over 290 genera representing just over two thousand species. They can be distinguished from other thrips by a saw-like ovipositor
Ovipositor
The ovipositor is an organ used by some animals for oviposition, i.e., the laying of eggs. It consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages formed to transmit the egg, to prepare a place for it, and to place it properly...
curving downwards, narrow wings with two veins, and antennae of six to ten antennomeres with stiletto-like forked sense cones on antennal segments III and IV.
They are considered to be among the more derived of thrips, having evolved many traits key to specializing as cryptophilous phytovores, living in the narrow spaces at the bases of leaves and within flowers.
Several species are economically significant pests, some of them invasive
Invasive species
"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....
. Almost all of them are typical thrips which belong in the largest subfamily, the Thripinae
Thripinae
Thripinae is a subfamily of thrips, insects of the order Thysanoptera. The Thripinae belong to the common thrips family Thripidae and include around 1,400 species in 150 genera....
.
Systematics
Many of the divisions within the Thripidae are not based on common ancestry, but are instead based on common environment and morphological homoplasy, and that these distinctions tend to be irrelevant to true phylogenetic relationships. As a result, many species of the Thripidae have undergone recent drastic taxonomic revision, splitting and promoting two tribes, Dendrothripini and Sericothripini, to subfamily status, with the possibility of greater reorganizations to come as modern phylogenetic methods and a more comprehensive morphological analysis provide additional evidence defining evolutionary relationships. This revision is probably necessary, as more than half of the genera in family Thripidae are monobasic, with the majority of monotypic species concentrated in subfamily Thripinae.Subfamilies
The Thripidae are thus ordered into four subfamilies:- Dendrothripinae Priesner, 1925 (16 genera)
- Panchaetothripinae Bagnall, 1912 (38 genera)
- Sericothripinae Karny, 1921 (11 genera)
- ThripinaeThripinaeThripinae is a subfamily of thrips, insects of the order Thysanoptera. The Thripinae belong to the common thrips family Thripidae and include around 1,400 species in 150 genera....
(227 genera)
Further reading
- Hoddle, M.S. & Mound, L.A. (2003). The genus Scirtothrips in Australia (Insecta, Thysanoptera, Thripidae). Zootaxa 268:1-40. PDF
External links
- Thrips of the World Checklist: Family Thripidae
- Pictures of Taeniothrips inconsequens from Canada
- Chilli Thrips (castor thrips, Assam thrips, yellow tea thrips, strawberry thrips), Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood, Provisional Management Guidelines
Thrips on the UF
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
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Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
The University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is a federal-state-county partnership dedicated to developing knowledge in agriculture, human and natural resources, and the life sciences, and enhancing and sustaining the quality of human life by making that information...
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