Biltothrips minutus Bhatti.

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 : 18

Biltothrips minutus Bhatti.

This minute white insect with black forewings was abundant in the vicinity of Hilo, Hawaii, breeding on the leaves of both taro ( Colocasia esculenta [ Araceae ]) and cassava ( Manihot esculenta [ Euphorbiaceae ]). Feeding damage by this thrips on C. esculenta was unusual ( Fig. 1 ), comprising small linear markings that resembled leafmines of minute Lepidoptera . Similar leaf damage in association with this thrips was also noted on cabbage ( Brassica oleracea [ Brassicaceae ]), avocado ( Persea americana [ Lauraceae ]), and blueberry ( Vaccinium sp [ Ericaceae ]). This biparental species was described from West Bengal, India. Subsequently it was reported from Thailand, and from Malaysia (both sexes were collected from cassava [ Ng et al. 2014]), and also the Society Islands ( Hoddle et al. 2008, Ng and Mound 2015). In the key to Hawaiian Terebrantia (Mound et al. 2016) B. minutus will run to the genus Scirtothrips , because of the presence of closely spaced rows of microtrichia laterally on the tergites. However, in contrast to Scirtothrips species, Biltothrips species have the median pair of setae on the sixth to the eighth tergites as large as, and situated close to, the submedian setal pair, instead of being small and close together in the mid-line.

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.