Body colour yellow, including legs; antennal segment I–III pale, IV–V brown distally, VI–VII brown; fore wings pale. Head with two pairs of ocellar setae; ocellar setae III short and arising just outside ocellar triangle. Antennae 7-segmented, III & IV with forked sense cones. Pronotum rectangular and with two pairs of long posteroangular setae; anteroangular and anteromarginal setae minute. Mesothoracic spinula long; metathoracic spinula absent. Metanotum with longitudinal lines converging to posterior margin, with curving transverse lines anteriorly; paired campaniform sensilla present; two pairs of long and stout setae, median pair arising behind anterior margin. Tarsi 2-segmented. Fore wing with first setal row widely interrupted and second row essentially complete. Abdominal tergite II with four lateral marginal setae; V–VIII with ctenidia laterally, ctenidia on VIII posteromesad to spiracles; VIII with a complete posteromarginal comb; pleurotergites without rows of microtrichia. Sternites without discal setae, II with two pairs of marginal setae, III–VII with three pairs. Both sexes fully winged.
Male with transverse pore plates on abdominal sternites III–VII.
Intraspecific variation
Not recorded.
Genus and similar species information
Thrips is the largest genus amongst Terebrantia, comprising more than 280 described species. This group is primarily from Holartic and Old World tropics, with all members lacking ocellar setae I and with ctenidia on abdominal tergite VIII posteromesad to spiracles. Thrips palmi can be distinguished from the other Thrips species found in Brazil by the uniformly yellow body colour and the four lateral marginal setae on abdominal tergite II. A key to four Thrips species reported to Brazil is given by Monteiro et al. (2001).
World distribution
Originated from Asia, it is now widely distributed around tropical areas.
Breeding mainly on flowers, particularly in Cucurbitaceae and Solanaceae.
Economic importance
Known as the 'Melon thrips', this species is a serious pest of potatoes, cucurbits, and ornamentals, both from direct feeding damage and from the transmission of tospoviruses.
References suggested
Monteiro RC; Mound LA & Zucchi RA (2001) Espécies de Thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) no Brasil. Neotropical Entomology 30(1): 61–63.
Mound LA & Masumoto M (2005) The genus Thrips (Thysanoptera, Thripidae) in Australia, New Caledonia And New Zealand. Zootaxa 1020: 1–64.
Nakahara S (1994) The genus Thrips Linnaeus (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) of the New World. Technical Bulletin. United States Department of Agriculture 1822: 1–183.
Published in: 17/06/2017 Posted by: Mariana Lindner
