Aeolothrips albicinctus

Nomenclatural details

Aeolothrips albicinctus Haliday, 1836: 451.
Aeolothrips flavithorax Priesner, 1926: 102.

Biology and distribution

Described from Great Britain (A. albicinctus) and Traunauen near Offering, Austria (A. flavithorax).

Aeolothrips albicinctus is widespread throughout Europe, from Spain to Norway and Sweden. Eastwards, it occurs in Asia and in the south as far as Iran. A. albicinctus is also found in eastern North America, Ontario and New York and westwards to Iowa and California.
A. albicinctus is mainly found on herbacious plants, in particular at the base of grasses. It is presumably predatory on mites, with a behaviour active and distinctively ant-like.
Males are always micropterous, whereas in rare cases females are fully winged.

References

Haliday AH (1836) An epitome of the British genera in the Order Thysanoptera with indications of a few of the species. Entomological Magazine 3 (5): 439–451.

Priesner H (1926) Die Thysanopteren Europas. F. Wagner Verlag, Wien, pp 1–755.

Type information

Holotype ♀ (A. albicinctus): Natural History Museum London.

Syntype ♀ (A. flavithorax): Senckenberg Museum Frankfurt.