This identification and information system was built with much support and input from my working group in the Department of Developmental Biology of the University of Halle.

Particular thanks go to the following: my research assistant, Sandra Kumm, for checking of molecular data and preparation of the basic data matrices; and my two technicians, Angelika Steller and Renate Kranz, who conscientiously and skilfully provided visual and molecular data for this project. In addition, thanks to Susanne Picl, who worked for over 3 years in our molecular lab, and assisted with the development of the basic molecular protocols for DNA-extraction.

The authors are particularly grateful to Matt Taylor and his colleagues, including Geoff Norton, in the CBIT team at Brisbane for their frequent encouragement and unstinted technical support in the preparation and publication of this thrips system.

The students Jens Keilwagen, Nick Hehlke and Michael Seifert are thanked for the very able assistance and successful collaboration that enabled us to develop a useful net-based identification system based on our ITS-RFLP data.

For financial support we thank the following
Bayer Crop Science, Monheim,
CSIRO, Canberra
Johanna and Fritz Buch Foundation, Hamburg
and
Federal Ministry of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture.

Last but not least, thanks to the entomologists who provided us with thrips specimens from several parts of the world.