Thrips roepkeiThrips roepkeiBoth sexes fully winged. Body light brown, femora brown to yellowish brown, tibiae and tarsi often almost yellow; major setae light brown; antennal segment III almost yellow, IV–V yellow but light brown toward apex, VI–VII brown; fore wings pale to scarcely shaded. Antennae 7-segmented; III–IV each with short forked sense cone, VII small. Head with 2 pairs of ocellar setae; pair III no longer than distance between 2 ocelli, arising on anterior margin of triangle; postocular setae pairs I & III longer than ocellar setae III, postocular setae pair II small. Pronotum with 2 pairs of long posteroangular setae; posterior margin with 3 pairs of setae; discal area with widely spaced transverse striae. Mesonotum with paired anterior campaniform sensilla; median setae arise well in front of posterior margin. Metanotum with irregular reticulation medially, elongate on posterior third; median setae arising behind anterior margin; campaniform sensilla absent. Fore wing first vein with 3 setae on distal half; second vein with 11–12 setae. Abdominal tergite II with 4 lateral marginal setae; tergites V–VIII with paired ctenidia, on VIII posteromesad to spiracles; tergite VIII posteromarginal comb absent medially, with few or no microtrichia laterally; pleurotergites with no discal setae, sculpture lines with a few dentate microtrichia, posterior margin with few or no microtrichia; tergite IX with 2 pairs of campaniform sensilla, X with median split. Sternites with no discal setae; sternite VII marginal setae S1 arise close to posterior margin.
Male yellow, smaller than female; tergite VIII with no posteromarginal comb; tergite IX median setae slender; sternites III–VII with transverse pore plate.
The genus Thrips is the second largest genus in the Thysanoptera, and currently includes, worldwide, over 290 species. All members of genus Thrips lack ocellar setae I on the head, and they all have ctenidia on tergite VIII posteromesad to the spiracles. Other characters, such as number of antennal segments, number of setae on the fore wing veins, and number of discal setae on the sternites are variable between species (Palmer, 1992; Nakahara, 1994; Mound & Masumoto, 2005). The monophagous species Thrips roepkei is similar in structure to the widespread polyphagous species Thrips fuscipennis, but the fore wings are much paler, and the tibiae as well as the tarsi are almost yellow. Vierbergen (2004) synonymised fallaciosus with roepkei, but the North American species is reported to have a wider host range, and the relationship between these two needs further investigation.
Feeding and breeding in the flowers of its host plants, Solanum dulcamara [Solanaceae]. The initial report of Solanum nigrum as the host may be the result of erroneous plant species identification (Vierbergen, 2004).
Locally common in England, but mostly in the southern half (Mound et al., 1976). In Europe, recorded from Norway, the Netherlands, and Germany. If the synonymy of fallaciosus is correct, then roepkei is also widespread in northern North America.
THRIPIDAE - THRIPINAE
Thrips roepkei Doeksen
Thrips roepkei Doeksen, 1953: 169
Thrips inopinatus zur Strassen, 1963: 523
Thrips fallaciosus Nakahara, 1994: 51
Mound LA & Masumoto M (2005) The genus Thrips (Thysanoptera, Thripidae) in Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand. Zootaxa 1020: 1–64.
Mound LA, Morison GD, Pitkin BR & Palmer JM (1976) Thysanoptera. Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects 1 (11): 1–79.
Nakahara S (1994) The genus Thrips Linnaeus (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) of the New World. United States Department of Agriculture. Technical Bulletin 1822: 1–183.
Palmer JM (1992) Thrips (Thysanoptera) from Pakistan to the Pacific: a review. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology Series 61 (1): 1–76.
Vierbergen G (2004) Eight species of thrips new for the Netherlands and some taxonomical changes in Stenchaetothrips, Thrips and Hoplothrips. Acta Phytopathologica et Entomologica Hungarica 39: 199–209.
