extant species, plant pests
Scirtothrips dorsalis
Nomenclatural details
Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood, 1919: 90.
Heliothrips minutissimus Bagnall, 1919: 260.
Anaphothrips andreae Karny, 1925: 24.
Neophysopus fragariae Girault, 1927: 1. Synonymised by Mound & Palmer, 1981: 475.
Scirtothrips dorsalis var. padmae Ramakrishna, 1942: 169.
Biology and distribution
Described from Australia (N. fragariae), India (S. dorsalis, S. padmae, H. minutissimus) and Indonesia (A. andreae).
Distribution: Originated from Southeast Asia S. dorsalis is widespread between Pakistan, Japan and Australia. It was introduced to Israel and the Caribbean area and is probably spreading in the world by horticultural trade. S. dorsalis is a quarantine-listed pest species in many European countries. It has been recorded from Great Britain, the Netherlands and Spain.
Scirtothrips dorsalis – “Chili-Thrips” – is breeding on young leaves, but sometimes also on flowers. It is highly polyphagous, although local populations may show some specificity. Feeding damage has been reported from Lotus (Nelumbo) from Taiwan, tea from Japan and Capsicum from Israel.
References
Bagnall RS (1919) Brief descriptions of new Thysanoptera X. Annals and Magazine of Natural History (9)4: 253–277.
Karny H (1925) Die an Tabak auf Java und Sumatra angetroffenen Blasenfüsser. Bulletin van het deli Proefstation te Medan 23: 1–55.
Girault AA (1927) Some new wild animals from Queensland. Published privately Brisbane. pp. 1–3.
Ramakrishna TV (1942) Insects associated with the Lotus plant. Indian Journal of Entomology 4: 167–170.
Mound LA (1968) A review of R.S. Bagnall’s Thysanoptera collections. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology 11: 1–181.
Mound LA & Palmer JM (1981) Identification, distribution and host-plants of the pest species of Scirtothrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae). Bulletin of entomological Research 71: 467–479.
Hoddle M & Mound LA (2004) The genus Scirtothrips in Australia (Insecta, Thysanoptera, Thripidae). Zootaxa 268: 1–40.
Type information
Holotype (S. dorsalis): National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC.
Lectotype ♀ (H. minutissimus): The Natural History Museum, London.
Syntype (N. fragariae): Queensland Museum, Brisbane.
Holotype ♀ (A. andreae): Senckenberg Museum, Frankfurt.