Body brown, tibiae brownish yellow and tarsi yellow; antennal segments largely brown, III mainly yellow, IV–V brown with extreme bases paler; fore wing shaded but somewhat paler basally. Head with three pairs of ocellar setae, pair III long, arising on anterior margins of ocellar triangle. Antennae 8-segmented, III & IV with forked sense cones; III with pedicel elongate, twice as long as sub-basal ring. Pronotum not sculptured, with two pairs of long posteroangular setae; anteroangular and anteromarginal setae long, but less than 0.5 pronotum length. Mesothoracic spinula long, metathoracic spinula absent. Metanotum with transverse lines of sculpture anteriorly, weakly reticulate posteromedially; campaniform sensilla present; two pairs of setae arising at anterior margin. Fore wing with first and second rows of setae complete and closely spaced. Abdominal tergites V–VIII with ctenidia laterally, ctenidia on VIII anterolateral to spiracle; VIII with complete posteromarginal comb of relatively short microtrichia. Sternites without discal setae, with three pairs of long posteromarginal setae. Both sexes fully winged.
Male with transverse pore plate on abdominal sternites III–VII.
Intraspecific variation
Not recorded.
Genus and similar species information
Frankliniella is one of the largest genera amongst Thysanoptera, comprising more than 160 described species. About 90% of the species are from the Neotropics and their taxonomy is usually complex. Almost all members have 8-segmented antennae, three pairs of ocellar setae and fore wing with both rows of setae complete. About 40 species are recorded from Brazil, and almost half of these were described from this country. Frankliniella parvula is very distinctive in having the pedicel of antennal segment III elongate, and the fore wings dark although slightly paler at the base. A key to Frankliniella species recorded from Brazil is provided by Cavalleri & Mound (2012).
World distribution
Widely distributed in Central America and Caribbean region; also recorded from Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador.
Breeding on flowers of several unrelated plants. In Brazil, larvae and adults were found in bananas (Musa sp.) and Ocotea (Lauraceae).
Economic importance
Considered a pest of banana fruits (Childers & Achor 1995).
References suggested
Cavalleri A & Mound LA (2012) Toward the identification of Frankliniella species in Brazil (Thysanoptera, Thripidae). Zootaxa 3270: 1–30.
Childers CC & Achor DS (1995) Thrips feeding and oviposition injuries to economic plants, subsequent damage and host response to infestation, pp. 31–50. In Parker BL, Skinner M & Lewis T [eds.], Thrips biology and management. Plenum, New York.
Mound LA & Marullo R (1996) The Thrips of Central and South America: An Introduction. Memoirs on Entomology, International 6: 1–488.
Published in: 28/12/2016 Posted by: Mariana Lindner
