Frankliniella fusca Hinds, 1902

Biology
Breeding on a wide range of plants, the tobacco thrips of eastern North America causes damage to peanuts, tobacco and cotton, and is a vector of TSWV disease. It is remarkable within the genus Frankliniella because both sexes occur as long-winged and short-winged morphs.
Distribution
Widespread in USA northward into Canada and south to Puerto Rico and Mexico.
Recognition
Female macropterous, or micropterous with wing lobe shorter than width of thorax; body colour brown with yellow markings on head and pronotum; legs mainly yellow, femora particularly with brown markings; antennal segment II brown, I & III-IV paler; forewing weakly shaded with base even paler. Antennae 8-segmented, III & IV with forked sense cone, VIII as long as VII. Head wider than long; 3 pairs of ocellar setae present, pair III slightly longer than side of ocellar triangle, arising just outside anterior margins of triangle; postocular setae pair I absent, pair IV slender and no longer than one hind ocellus. Pronotum with 5 pairs of major setae; anteromarginal setae distinctly smaller than anteroangulars, one pair of minor setae present medially between posteromarginal submedian setae. Metanotum with 2 pairs of setae at anterior margin, campaniform sensilla present. Forewing with 2 complete rows of veinal setae. Tergites V-VIII with pair of lateral ctenidia (weakly developed pair also on IV), on VIII anterolateral of spiracle; tergite VIII with no posteromarginal comb. Sternites III-VII without discal setae.
Male macropterous, or micropterous, smaller and paler than female; tergite IX with median pair of setae slender; sternites III-VII with glandular area transverse and narrow to broadly oval.
Second instar larva yellow with legs and antennae grey, also tergite X and most of IX; tergites with transverse rows of small linear plaques, dorsal setae all blunt, tergite IX campaniform sensilla wide apart almost anterior to B2, posterior margin with row of small teeth.
Related species
F. fusca is unusual in the genus in that both sexes exist as macropterous and micropterous forms.

Images Image gallery gel images ITS-RFLP image gallery offline ITS RFLP Identificationoffline ID online ID with php data matrixonline ID