Print Fact SheetHaplothrips

Generic diagnosis

Medium sized, usually macropterous Phlaeothripinae with distinct maxillary bridge. Head usually longer than wide, vertex sometimes with transverse striae; postocular setae usually present, rarely reduced; mouth cone short; maxillary stylets deeply retracted, one fifth to one third of head width apart, with maxillary bridge. Antennae 8-segmented; segment III with 1 or 2 sense-cones (rarely 0), IV with 4 (rarely 2 or 3); segment VIII not constricted at base. Pronotum with little sculpture; notopleural sutures complete; usually with 5 pairs of major setae, but number and presence varies between species. Prosternal basantra present; ferna well developed; mesopresternum complete or absent medially; metathoracic sternopleural sutures absent or weakly indicated and rarely well developed. Fore tarsal tooth usually absent in female, present or absent in male. Fore wings distinctly constricted medially; with duplicated cilia (absent in species of subgenus Trybomiella). Pelta triangular or bell-shaped; tergites II‒VII each with two pairs of sigmoid wing-retaining setae; tergite IX setae usually shorter than tube; tube shorter than head. Male tergite IX setae S2 short and stout; sternite VIII without pore plate.

Relationships

This is the primary genus of the Tribe Haplothripini in the Phlaeothripinae (Mound & Minaei, 2007). The genus Haplothrips is now reasonably well-diagnosed. However, variation in some characters, such as unusually short setae, or reduced numbers of sense cones on the fourth antennal segment, or the head scarcely longer than wide, have induced some earlier authors to place such species into separate genera (see Nomenclature below).

Biology

Most Haplothrips species breed in flowers, often those of Asteraceae but with many in the florets of Poaceae. However, a number of Haplothrips species live as predators on other small arthropods on dead branches (Minaei & Mound, 2008). Moreover, some flower-living species can at times behave as predators. The common tropical flower thrips Haplothrips gowdeyi has been shown to feed successfully on the larvae of Thrips palmi (Nakao et al., 2022).

Distribution

Species of this genus are found all over the world wherever there are flowering plants. Judging from the studies by Priesner (1965) it is particularly species rich in Europe and the Mediterranean (including Egypt). However, many of the named species listed here are based on single collections, and these species require validation based on new and targetted field work.

Nomenclature

Haplothrips Amyot & Serville, 1843: 640. Type species Phloeothrips albipennis Burmeister 1836, by monotypy [Synonym of Thrips aculeatus Fabricius, 1803]

Haplothrips (Trybomiella) Bagnall, 1926: 548. Type species Anthothrips bagnalli Trybom, by original designation from two species.

Aulothrips Priesner, 1950: 70. Type species Aulothrips nubicus Priesner 1950, by monotypy. Synonymised by Mound, 2024.

Euryaplothrips Ramakrishna & Margabandhu, 1931: 1037. Type species Euryaplothrips crassus Ramakrishna & Margabandhu, 1931, by monotypy. Synonymised by Mound, 2024.

Hapedothrips Bhatti, 1995: 105. Type species Haplothrips angusticornis Priesner 1921, by monotypy. Synonymised by Mound, 2024

In addition to the synonymic names listed above there are at least another 12 generic names placed into sysnonymy with Haplothrips. Currently worldwide, there are 239 species listed in this genus (ThripsWiki, 2023). Of these, 110 are listed below from the target area, including 80 listed in Fauna Europea (2023) from continental Europe. There is no modern analysis of the members of Haplothrips from Europe, or of northern Africa, and the biological validity of many of these species cannot be guaranteed.  

Euro-Mediterranean species
Haplothrips acanthoscelis (Karny, 1910)
Haplothrips aculeatus (Fabricius, 1803)
Haplothrips alexandrinus Priesner, 1931
Haplothrips alpester Priesner, 1914
Haplothrips alpicola Priesner, 1950
Haplothrips anagensis zur Strassen, 1966
Haplothrips andresi Priesner, 1931
Haplothrips andryalae Priesner, 1933
Haplothrips angusticornis Priesner, 1921
Haplothrips anthemidinus Priesner, 1950
Haplothrips arenarius Priesner, 1920
Haplothrips armeriae Maltbaek, 1931
Haplothrips atriplicis Priesner, 1936
Haplothrips balsaminus zur Strassen, 1966
Haplothrips biroi (Priesner, 1928)
Haplothrips bodenheimeri Priesner, 1928
Haplothrips bolacophilus Priesner, 1938
Hapolthrips caespitis Priesner, 1936
Haplothrips cahirensis (Trybom, 1911)
Haplothrips cenchricola zur Strassen, 1966
Haplothrips cerealis Priesner, 1939
Hapolthrips chrysanthemi Priesner, 1933
Haplothrips cognatus Knechtel, 1948
Haplothrips corticinus Priesner, 1964
Haplothrips (Trybomiella) cottei (Vuillet, 1913)
Haplothrips crassicornis (John, 1924)
Haplothrips crassus (Ramakrishna & Margabandhu, 1931)
Haplothrips dianthinus Priesner, 1924
Haplothrips dilatipennis zur Strassen, 1965
Haplothrips distinguendus (Uzel, 1895)
Haplothrips dudichi Priesner, 1961
Haplothrips eragrostidis Priesner 1930
Haplothrips eryngii Bagnall, 1934
Haplothrips falsarius Priesner, 1966
Haplothrips faurei (zur Strassen, 1966)
Haplothrips flavicinctus (Karny, 1910)
Haplothrips flavitibia Williams, 1916
Haplothrips floricae Knechtel, 1960
Haplothrips frustrator zur Strassen, 1968
Haplothrips gallarum Priesner, 1950
Haplothrips ganglebaueri Schmutz, 1913
Haplothrips gowdeyi (Franklin, 1908)
Haplothrips graecus Karny, 1914
Haplothrips guanche zur Strassen, 1966
Haplothrips habermani zur Strassen, 1964
Haplothrips helianthemi von Oettingen, 1942
Haplothrips herajius Minaei & Aleosfoor, 2012
Haplothrips hispanicus Priesner, 1924
Haplothrips hukkineni Priesner, 1939
Haplothrips husseini Priesner, 1939
Haplothrips ilamensis
Mirab-balou & Minaei, 2022
Haplothrips inopinatus Bournier, 1992
Haplothrips janetscheki Priesner, 1957
Haplothrips jasionis Priesner, 1950
Haplothrips johni (Priesner, 1925)
Haplothrips juncorum Bagnall, 1913
Haplothrips knechteli Priesner, 1923
Haplothrips kurdjumovi Karny, 1913
Haplothrips leptadeniae Priesner, 1936
Haplothrips leucanthemi (Schrank, 1781)
Haplothrips limoniastri Priesner, 1931
Haplothrips longipes Bagnall, 1926
Haplothrips lundbladi Priesner, 1938
Haplothrips maltbaeki Bagnall, 1933
Haplothrips marrubiicola Bagnall, 1932
Haplothrips mesembrianthemi Priesner, 1933
Haplothrips minisetosus Klimt, 1969
Haplothrips minutus (Uzel, 1895)
Haplothrips (Trybomiella) navvabi
Minaei, Mombeini & Ramezani, 2018
Haplothrips niger (Osborn, 1883)
Haplothrips nigricans Bagnall, 1934
Haplothrips nubicus (Priesner 1950)
Haplothrips odontospermi Priesner, 1931
Haplothrips palaestinensis Priesner, 1936
Haplothrips pannonicus Fabian, 1938
Haplothrips pharao Priesner, 1930
Haplothrips phyllophilus Priesner, 1914
Haplothrips pineticola Bagnall, 1926
Haplothrips plantaginis Priesner, 1957
Haplothrips priesnerorum Pelikan, 1968
Haplothrips propinquus Bagnall, 1933
Haplothrips quercinus Priesner, 1950
Haplothrips rabinovitchi Priesner, 1936
Haplothrips rasouliani Mirab-balou & Chen, 2015
Haplothrips reichardti Priesner, 1924
Haplothrips retamae (Enderlein, 1929)
Haplothrips reuteri (Karny, 1907)
Haplothrips rivnayi Priesner, 1936
Haplothrips salloumensis Priesner, 1935
Haplothrips salsolae Priesner, 1939
Haplothrips salvadorae Priesner, 1950
Haplothrips scythicus Knechtel, 1961
Haplothrips senecionis Bagnall, 1932
Haplothrips setiger Priesner, 1921
Haplothrips setigeriformis Fabian, 1938
Haplothrips simplex (Buffa, 1909)
Haplothrips siwanus Priesner, 1950
Haplothrips sorghi Bagnall, 1933
Haplothrips sorghicola Bagnall, 1933
Haplothrips statices (Haliday, 1836)
Haplothrips strigae Priesner, 1934
Haplothrips subtilissimus (Haliday, 1852)
Haplothrips sventenii zur Strassen, 1966
Haplothrips tamaricinus Priesner, 1938
Haplothrips (Trybomiella) teucrii (Bournier, 1962)
Haplothrips titschacki Pelikan, 1965
Haplothrips titschackianus zur Strassen, 1966
Haplothrips tritici (Kurdjumov, 1912)
Haplothrips utae Klimt, 1970
Haplothrips verbasci (Osborn, 1897)
Haplothrips vuilleti Priesner, 1920
Haplothrips zabolius Minaei & Mokhtari, 2016

References

Fauna Europea (2023). https://fauna-eu.org/

Mound LA (2024) New generic synonyms amongst Thysanoptera Phlaeothripinae listed from Europe and the Mediterranean area. Zootaxa 5428 (1): 146-150.

Mound LA & Minaei K (2007) Australian insects of the Haplothrips lineage (Thysanoptera – Phlaeothripinae). Journal of Natural History 41: 2919–2978.

Minaei K & Mound LA (2008) The Thysanoptera Haplothripini (Phlaeothripidae) of Iran. Journal of Natural History 42: 2617–2658.

Nakao, S, Tomoko GK & Tanaka K (2022). Haplothrips (Thysanoptera: Phlaeothripidae) Fauna of Okinawa Prefecture and New Notes on the Predation and Development of Haplothrips chinensis and Haplothrips gowdeyi. Japanese Journal of Applied Entomology and Zoology 66: 105–121.

Priesner H (1964) Ordnung Thysanoptera (Fransenflügler, Thripse), in Franz H, Bestimmungsbücher zur Bodenfauna Europas 2: 1–242. Akademie-Verlag.

Priesner, H (1965) A monograph of the Thysanoptera of the Egyptian deserts. Publications de l’Institut Desert d’Egypte 13: 1–549. [Published in 1965, the front cover of the volume bears the date 1960 whereas the back cover indicates 1964. The manuscript went to the publisher on 1st October 1951 - teste Herman Priesner to Laurence Mound at Linz, Austria, in 1966]

ThripsWiki (2023). ThripsWiki - providing information on the World's thrips. <http://thrips.info/wiki/Main_Page>