Frankliniella gossypianaFrankliniella gossypianaBoth sexes fully winged. Body and legs yellow, distal antennal segments brown; fore wing pale. Antennae 8-segmented, III & IV each with a forked sense cone; segment VIII almost twice as long as VII. Head wider than long; three pairs of ocellar setae present, pair III longer than margin of ocellar triangle, arising just within lateral margins; postocular setae pair I present, pair IV as long as distance between hind ocelli. Pronotum with 5 pairs of major setae; anteromarginal setae almost as long as anteroangulars; one pair of minor setae present medially between posteromarginal submedian setae. Metanotum with 2 pairs of setae at anterior margin; campaniform sensilla present. Fore wing with 2 complete rows of veinal setae. Abdominal tergites V–VIII with paired ctenidia, anterolateral to spiracle on VIII; posteromarginal comb on VIII with long, regular, microtrichia. Sternites III–VII without discal setae, except sternite II with one or two long discal setae medially.
Male smaller than female; tergite VIII with complete comb; sternite II with one or two discal setae medially, III–VII with small oval pore plate, sternite VII with toothed craspedum on posterior margin.
F. gossypiana is similar in color and structure to F. williamsi, the common species on Zea mays, but has a more slender head, and the setae on the ninth abdominal tergite are shorter.
Presumably breeding in flowers, and taken from various plants including Ipomoea species [Convolvulaceae] ; adults are recorded sheltering under the webbing of spider mites on leaves (Mound & Marullo, 1996).
Probably originally from Mexico and Costa Rica, but recorded from California, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico and Utah.
THRIPIDAE - THRIPINAE
Frankliniella gossypiana Hood
Euthrips gossypii Morgan, 1913: 9
Frankliniella gossypiana Hood, 1936: 68 [replacement name because of prior existence of Euthrips gossypii Shiraki in Japan]
Mound LA & Marullo R (1996) The Thrips of Central and South America: An Introduction. Memoirs on Entomology, International 6: 1–488.
