Thrips validusThrips validusBoth sexes fully winged. Body and femora brown, tarsi and antennal segment III almost yellow, antennal segments IV–V light brown but paler at base, VI–VII brown; major setae dark brown; fore wing light brown with base paler. Antennae 7-segmented; segments III–IV each with short forked sense cone, VII short. Head wider than long; with 2 pairs of ocellar setae; pair III as long as distance between two ocelli, arising just outside anterior margins of ocellar triangle; postocular seta pair I about equal to ocellar setae III. Pronotum with 2 pairs of long posteroangular setae; posterior margin with 3 (or 4) pairs of setae, median pair stout. Mesonotum with anterior pair of campaniform sensilla present. Metanotum with close longitudinal striations on median area; median setae arising near anterior margin; campaniform sensilla absent. Fore wing first vein with 3 setae on distal half; second vein with 10–12 setae. Abdominal tergite II with 4 lateral marginal setae; V–VIII with paired ctenidia, on VIII posteromesad to spiracles; tergite VIII posteromarginal comb complete, but microtrichia irregular in length medially; tergite IX with two pairs of campaniform sensilla, X with median split; pleurotergites without discal setae, sculpture lines with a few weak microtrichia, posterior margin with few microtrichia. Sternites without discal setae, setae S1 on VII arising in front of margin.
Male similar to female but smaller; sternites III–VII each with an unusually small circular 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). Thrips validus is unusual amongst the Thrips species that are associated with the flowers of Asteraceae in having the metanotum closely striate, and in lacking discal setae on the sternites.
Polyphagous, feeding and breeding in the flowers of a wide range of Asteraceae, particularly those species with yellow flowers including Hieraceum, Leontodon and Taraxacum.
Found throughout Britain, from Kent to northern Scotland, and also in Northern Ireland (Mound et al., 1976), this species is widespread across Europe, and eastwards to Siberia. It is also found in North America (Nakahara, 1994).
THRIPIDAE - THRIPINAE
Thrips validus Uzel
Thrips valida Uzel, 1895: 183
Thrips adusta Uzel, 1895: 185
Thrips adusta var. nigra Uzel, 1895: 185
Thrips longicollis Uzel, 1895: 197
Thrips fuscus Moulton, 1936: 108
Thrips salvus Moulton, 1946: 60
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.
