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Species
Thysanoptera
IUCN
NCBI
EOL Text
Although introduced species of thrips have adapted to the Great Lakes region, many species have yet to invade previously glaciated parts north of the Wisconsin glacial maxima.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2012, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Thysanoptera/ |
Thrips are primarily phytophages; that is, they eat plants and parts of plants, such as pollen, flowers, leaves, fruits, twigs, or buds. They consume flower heads of daisies and dandelions. In addition, they feed on onions, carrots, melons, cucumbers, peas, beans, roses, gladiolus, irises, and mullein. Plant-feeding thrips pierce a hole using their mandibular stylet to suck out the contents of individual cells. Pollen-feeding thrips ingest the contents of individual pollen grains.
Some species that live in litter eat fungi or decaying plant materials. Others are gall inducers. There are some species of thrips that feed on mites, small insect larvae, and other species of thrips.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2012, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Thysanoptera/ |
Some species of thrips aid in biodegradation of organic materials.
Ecosystem Impact: biodegradation
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2012, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Thysanoptera/ |
In Great Britain and/or Ireland:
Animal / predator / stocks nest with
female of Spilomena beata stocks nest with Thysanoptera
Animal / predator / stocks nest with
female of Spilomena curruca stocks nest with Thysanoptera
Animal / predator / stocks nest with
female of Spilomena enslini stocks nest with Thysanoptera
Animal / predator / stocks nest with
female of Spilomena troglodytes stocks nest with Thysanoptera
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Rights holder/Author | BioImages, BioImages - the Virtual Fieldguide (UK) |
Source | http://www.bioimages.org.uk/html/Thysanoptera.htm |
Thysanoptera is prey of:
Acari
Orius insidiosus
Aeolothrips
Amphisbaena caeca
Eleutherodactylus coqui
Eleutherodactylus richmondi
Eleutherodactylus portoricensis
Eleutherodactylus wightmanae
Anolis evermanni
Anolis gundlachi
Sphaerodactylus klauberi
Sphaerodactylus macrolepis
Anthracothorax viridis
Coereba flaveola
Anolis gingivinus
Anolis pogus
Hemiptera
Araneae
Based on studies in:
USA: Illinois (Agricultural)
Puerto Rico, El Verde (Rainforest)
This list may not be complete but is based on published studies.
- M. A. Mayse and P. W. Price, 1978. Seasonal development of soybean arthropod communities in east central Illinois. Agro-Ecosys. 4:387-405, from p. 402.
- M. A. Mayse and P. W. Price, 1978. Seasonal development of soybean arthropod communities in east central Illinois. Agro-Ecosys. 4:387-405, from p. 401.
- Waide RB, Reagan WB (eds) (1996) The food web of a tropical rainforest. University of Chicago Press, Chicago
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Cynthia Sims Parr, Joel Sachs, SPIRE |
Source | http://spire.umbc.edu/fwc/ |
Thysanoptera preys on:
Artemisia frigida
Bouteloua gracilis
Hesperostipa comata
Pascopyrum smithii
Ratibida columnifera
Helianthus annuus
Atriplex canescens
Picradeniopsis oppositifolia
Senecio vulgaris
Glycine max
Acari
fungi
flowers
Collembola
nectar and floral
leaves
Based on studies in:
USA: California, Cabrillo Point (Grassland)
USA: Illinois (Agricultural)
Puerto Rico, El Verde (Rainforest)
This list may not be complete but is based on published studies.
- L. D. Harris and L. Paur, A quantitative food web analysis of a shortgrass community, Technical Report No. 154, Grassland Biome. U.S. International Biological Program (1972), from p. 17.
- M. A. Mayse and P. W. Price, 1978. Seasonal development of soybean arthropod communities in east central Illinois. Agro-Ecosys. 4:387-405, from p. 402.
- M. A. Mayse and P. W. Price, 1978. Seasonal development of soybean arthropod communities in east central Illinois. Agro-Ecosys. 4:387-405, from p. 401.
- Waide RB, Reagan WB (eds) (1996) The food web of a tropical rainforest. University of Chicago Press, Chicago
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Cynthia Sims Parr, Joel Sachs, SPIRE |
Source | http://spire.umbc.edu/fwc/ |
These insects got through a kind of metamorphosis that is intermediate between simple (or gradual) and complete. The first two stages have no external wings and are larvae. Internally, wings may be developing. In some species, the third or fourth instar, the "prepupa," has external wings, but is inactive and does not feed. The fourth or fifth instar, the "pupa," is sometimes enclosed in a cocoon. After this, the adult results.
Development - Life Cycle: metamorphosis
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2012, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Thysanoptera/ |
Eggs, which are large with respect to the size of the female, are laid in plant tissue or in crevices or on exposed vegetation. The first and second instars resemble small adults except for the genitalia and wings. The third, fourth or fifth instars are resting stages known as "prepupa" or "pupa." Significant tissue reconstruction occurs during this time. Females are diploid, and males, if present, are haploid. Parthenogenesis is common. Several generations of thrips are produced annually.
Key Reproductive Features: parthenogenic
Thrips are considered to be subsocial in that a few species exhibit parental care of young.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2012, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Thysanoptera/ |
Thrips are slender, elongate in their bodies and the head is elongate as well. They range in color from black to dark brown to tan to yellowish. They are usually hypognathous. The mouthparts consist of a single stylet on the mandible and two stylets on the maxilla. These form a feeding tube. Thrips have small or large compound eyes, and three ocelli are present in fully winged forms. The abdomen consists of eleven segments, whereby ten segments are visible. In some species, an ovipositor is present on the female. Forewings and hindwings are similar. They are narrow and have a setal fringe. The short antennae are in four to nine segments. The legs are short and have a retractile bladderlike organ. When inflated, this organ provides adhesion to smooth surfaces.
Range length: 0.5 to 15.0 mm.
Other Physical Features: ectothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: sexes alike; female larger
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2012, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
Source | http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Thysanoptera/ |
The earliest fossils of thrips date back to Permian (Permothrips longipennis Martynov, 1935). By the Early Cretaceous true thrips became much more abundant (Grimaldi et al. 2004). The extant family Merothripidae most resemble these ancestral Thysanoptera, and are probably basal to the order (Mound 1997).
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Rights holder/Author | Text modified from Wikipedia |
Source | http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thrips&oldid=517084293 |