Frankliniella intonsaFrankliniella intonsaBoth sexes fully winged. Body and legs variable, mainly brown with head and pronotum often paler than abdomen, tibiae and tarsi largely yellow; major setae dark; antennal segments III–IV yellow with apices shaded; fore wing pale with setae dark. Antennae 8-segmented, III & IV each with a forked sense cone, segment VIII as long as VII. Head wider than long; three pairs of ocellar setae present, pair III slightly longer than side of ocellar triangle, arising on anterior margin of triangle; postocular setae pair I present, pair IV short, no longer than diameter of hind ocellus. Pronotum with 5 pairs of major setae; anteromarginal setae shorter than anteroangulars, one pair of minor setae present medially between posteromarginal submedian setae. Metanotum with 2 pairs of setae at anterior margin, campaniform sensilla absent. Fore wing with 2 complete rows of veinal setae. Abdominal tergites V–VIII with paired ctenidia, on VIII anterolateral to spiracle; posteromarginal comb on VIII complete, with short slender microtrichia arising from triangular bases. Sternites III–VII without discal setae.
Male smaller and paler than female; tergite VIII with no posteromarginal comb; tergite IX with posterolateral setae stout in larger males; sternites III–VII with transverse pore plate.
This species, the European Flower Thrips, is not known from California, but is included here as a potential invader. There are almost 240 species listed in the genus Frankliniella, with up to 130 further names placed into synonymy (Nakahara, 1997). This high rate of synonymy has been due to unrecognized variability in size and color of so many species. This variability is indicated in the more common species such as F. intonsa by the large number of subspecific synonyms listed. This species is very similar to F. occidentalis, but has the postocular setae considerably shorter, and apparently never has campaniform sensilla on the metanotum.
Breeding on leaves and in flowers, and recorded from a very wide range of unrelated plant species with little evidence of specificity. It is recorded as a pest of fruit trees in southern Europe, and of vegetable crops in Taiwan, and is a vector of the tospoviruses TSWV, TCSV, and GRSV.
Eurasian in origin, this thrips is not known in California, but is recorded from Washington and British Columbia. It is widespread across the Old World, from western Europe to China, Vietnam, Japan and Taiwan (zur Strassen, 2003).
THRIPIDAE - THRIPINAE
Frankliniella intonsa (Trybom)
Thrips intonsa Trybom, 1895: 182
Physopus vulgatissima albicornis Uzel, 1895: 96
Physopus vulgatissima fulvicornis Uzel, 1895: 96
Physopus vulgatissima nigropilosa Uzel, 1895: 96
Physapus brevistylis Karny, 1908: 278
Frankliniella breviceps Bagnall, 1911: 2
Frankliniella vicina Karny, 1922: 94
Frankliniella intonsa maritima Priesner, 1925: 165
Frankliniella formosae Moulton, 1928: 324
Frankliniella formosae tricolor Moulton, 1928: 325
Frankliniella intonsa rufula Keler, 1936: 104
Frankliniella intonsa norashensis Jakhontov & Jurbanov, 1957: 1279
Nakahara S (1997) Annotated list of the Frankliniella species of the world (Thysanoptera: Thripidae). Contributions on Entomology, International 2 (4): 355–389.
zur Strassen R (2003) Die terebranten Thysanopteren Europas und des Mittelmeer-Gebietes. Die Tierwelt Deutschlands 74: 1–271.
