
Small, bicoloured, sexually dimorphic, macropterous Phlaeothripinae. Head slightly longer than wide, weakly produced in front of eyes, with no long setae; mouth cone short, maxillary stylets retracted to eyes and wide apart with no maxillary bridge. Antennae 8-segmented, III with one sense cone, IV with 2 sense cones. Pronotum with only 2 pairs of prominent setae, anteroangulars and epimerals; notopleural sutures not developed. Prosternal basantra and mesopresternum well-developed; metathoracic sternopleural sutures absent. Fore wing slender, bicoloured, curved near base, without duplicated cilia. Pelta weakly sclerotised; tergites II–VI each with one pair of sigmoid wing-retaining setae; tube shorter than head. Male with fore tarsal tooth, also fore femora with median tubercle; sternite VIII without pore plate, tergite IX setae S2 not different from female.
The assortment of unusual character states in the only species in this genus make it difficult to suggest relationships. However, it seems most likely to be derived from within the Phlaeothrips-lineage of fungus feeding thrips.
Adults and larvae of this thrips feed as predators of whitefly and coccid larvae, and have been found on many different plant species (Wang et al., 2022).
The only species in this genus has been recorded widely in tropical countries, and also occasionally in greenhouses in Europe.
Aleurodothrips Franklin, 1909: 228. Type species Cryptothrips fasciapennis Franklin 1908, by monotypy.
Only a single widespread species is known in this genus (ThripsWiki, 2023).
Euro-Mediterranean species
Aleurodothrips fasciapennis (Franklin, 1908)
Mound LA & Tree DJ (2022) Tubulifera Australiensis - Thysanoptera-Phlaeothripidae Genera in Australia. Lucidcentral.org, Identic Pty Ltd, Queensland, Australia. https://keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/v4/thrips/tubulifera/index.html
Wang ZH, Mound LA, Husain M, Arthurs SP & Mao RQ (2022) Thysanoptera as predators: their diversity and significance as biological control agents. Pest Management Science Wileyonlinelibrary.com 2022: 1-14. DOI: 10.1002/ps7176