Thysanoptera classification

The Thysanoptera comprises a single Order in which the members differ from all other insects in the form of the mouth parts and the tarsal arolium. The mouth parts are asymmetric, with only the left mandible functional in larvae and adults, the right being resorbed in the embryo. The two maxillary stylets are co-adapted to form a single tube through which salivary secretions are pumped out and partially digested cell contents are pumped back into the thrips foregut (Heming, 1993). Larval thrips retain tarsal claws, but these are replaced in adults by an inflatable arolium (Heming, 1971) that functions in a similar way to that of dipterous flies.

Worldwide, about 6150 species of Thysanoptera in about 780 genera are recognized (ThripsWiki 2017). Two sub-orders are recognized, the Terebrantia and the Tubulifera. Eight families are recognized in the Terebrantia, plus a further five families known only from fossils, but only one family in the Tubulifera. In contrast, Bhatti (1994, 2006) has divided the Thysanoptera into two separate Orders and recognized about 40 families. A summary of the available family-level classifications is presented in Mound (2013).