Coremothrips pallidus Hood.

Mound, Laurence A., Matsunaga, Janis N., Bushe, Brian, Hoddle, Mark S. & Wells, Alice, 2017, Adventive Thysanoptera Species in the Hawaiian Islands: New Records and Putative Host Associations, Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society 49, pp. 17-28 : 20

Coremothrips pallidus Hood.

In December 2016 Randy Hamasaki found larvae and adult females of this species feeding on the leaves of avocado at Laupahoehoe, Hawaii. Also in December 2016, a single female was taken from avocado foliage in Waimanalo, Oahu. This is a very small, pale species, but the adults are remarkable for having the major setae on the forewings ( Fig. 5 ), head and pronotum exceptionally long with expanded fringed apices. Similar setae also occur on the dorsal surface of the larvae. This thrips was described from specimens taken from avocado on Trinidad, and is also reported from Panama, Puerto Rico, Guadeloupe and St. Vincent (Mound and Marullo 1996). However, a survey of thrips associated with avocado in several Neotropical countries ( Hoddle et al. 2002) did not find this species.

Figures

Figures 1–5. Thrips new to Hawaii. 1. Leaf-damage on Colocasia esculenta by Biltothrips minutus (photo: S. Chun). 2. Head of Indusiothrips seshadrii. 3. Head and pronotum of Monilothrips kempi. 4. Head and thorax of Trichromothrips priesneri. 5. Forewing of Coremothrips pallidus.