Thrips tabaci Lindeman

Mound, Laurence A. & Masumoto, Masami, 2005, The genus Thrips (Thysanoptera, Thripidae) in Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand, Zootaxa 1020 (1), pp. 1-64 : 51-52

Thrips tabaci Lindeman

Thrips tabaci Lindeman, 1889: 61

Thrips seminiveus Girault, 1926b: 1

Thrips indigenus Girault, 1929: 29

Diagnosis: Body colour varying from yellow to brown, depending largely on temperatures during development; ocellar pigment never red, usually grey; antennal segments III & IV brown with basal half pale; forewings pale. Head wider than long, ocellar setae pair III small and arising on anterior margins or just within ocellar triangle; postocular setae pairs I–III about equal to ocellar setae III in length. Antennae 7­segmented, III & IV slightly constricted at apex with short forked sense cone; VII short. Pronotum with 2 pairs of postero­angular setae; posterior margin with 3 (or 4) pairs of setae. Mesonotum without anterior pair of campaniform sensilla. Metanotum (Fig. 95) irregularly reticulate medially with lines converging to midpoint near posterior margin; median setae short and arising behind anterior margin; campaniform sensilla absent. Forewing first vein usually with 4 (2–6) setae on distal half, second vein with row of about 15 setae. Tergite II with 3 lateral mar­ ginal setae; posterior margin of tergite VIII with complete comb of long slender microtrichia; tergite IX lacking pair of campaniform sensilla on anterior half; pleurotergites without discal setae but with sculpture bearing rows of fine microtrichia (Fig. 94). Sternite II with 2 pairs of marginal setae, III–VII with 3 pairs, the median pair on VII arising in front of margin; sternites without discal setae.

Male small and yellow; tergite VIII with marginal comb represented by a few irregular microtrichia; tergite IX S1 & S2 setae arising on a transverse straight line; sternites III–V with narrow transverse glandular area.

Breeding: This thrips breeds both in flowers and on leaves of many plants. It is particularly abundant on Allium (onions, leeks and garlic), but also on cereals, potatoes, vines and glasshouse crops. It is sometimes an important vector of tospoviruses, particularly on potatoes in Tasmania, but can also be predatory on mites .

Distribution: Found throughout the temperate regions of the world, this species is rare, or even absent in the humid tropics. In Australia, it is usual for only small numbers of individuals to be found on native vegetation, although large populations develop on some crop plants. Males of T. tabaci have been seen on onions from New Zealand, but no males have been seen from Australia, although they are recorded from Japan ( Murai, 1990) and have been seen commonly from countries in the eastern Mediterranean.

Relationships: The dense covering of microtrichia on the pleurotergites, and the lack of paired campaniform sensilla on the anterior half of the ninth abdominal tergite, are unusual character states within the genus Thrips . The lack of red pigment beneath the three ocelli on the head usually facilitates recognition of this species.