Figures
Fig. 1: Antenna
Fig. 2: Head dorsal with ocellar triangle
Fig. 3: Pronotum
Fig. 4: Prosternal sclerite plates
Fig. 5: Meso- and metanotum
Fig. 6: Forewing
Fig. 7: Tergites IV and V
Fig. 8: Tergite X
Taxonomic Information
Species:
Liothrips vaneeckei Priesner, 1920
Common name:
Lily bulb thrips,
Lily thrips
Present taxonomic position:
Phlaeothripidae Uzel, 1895
Phlaeothripinae (Uzel) Priesner, 1928
Liothrips Uzel, 1895
Species Recognition
General information about the genus Liothrips:There are 250 species of Liothrips described which make this genus the second largest in the Thysanoptera. This genus is closely related to the genus Rhynchothrips and the two genera are difficult to separate morphologically. Cott (1956) acknowledged that the character shape of the head was most often used to separate the two genera and became increasing muddied as new species came to light. Mound and Marullo (1996) support this theory describing the difficulties separating the species within Liothrips and reporting that some authors separate the species by host-specificity with little supporting evidence. Some of the characters that are used to define this genus include a uniformly dark body, abdominal segment X is tubular, the forewings are smooth without veins or setae, the abdominal tergites contain two pairs of wing-retaining setae, they lack praepectal plates, antennal segment III has one sense cone whereas segment IV has three, there are five pairs of pronotal setae, the body has dark long setae and the basantra is absent.
Typical character states of Liothrips vaneeckei:
Body color
Mainly brown
Antennae
Number of antennal segments: 8
Segment III - number of sense cones: 1
Segment IV - number of sense cones: 3
Segments III & IV sensoria: emergent and simple
Head:
Basal thirds of cheeks: without a pair of stout setae
Maxillary stylet position: less than one tenth of head width apart
Postocular setae: about half to nine tenths as long as eye
Postocular setal apex: blunt to rounded
Maxillary bridge: absent
Cheeks: without one pair of stout setae in basal third
Prothorax
Number of pairs of elongate pronotal setae: 4-5
Pronotum: with faint sculpture
Prosternal basantra: absent
Metathorax
Metanotum structure: with narrow longitudinalreticulations medially
Wings
Wings: present and more than half as long as abdomen
Forewing shape: parallel sided
Forewings: surface smooth, without veins, setae and microtrichia
Legs
Fore femur: without a strong, cylindrical tooth near the base
Abdomen:
Abdominal segment X: complete tube in both sexes
Abdominal tergites: with curved wing-retaining setae
Biology
Life history:
The biology of this species is not well known. As with other thrips species the life cycle from egg to adult is dependent on temperature. The full cycle can take about 15 days (Lewis,
1973) to over a month and adults may live for more than one month producing several generations in one year depending on seasonal weather. With greenhouse temperatures the developmental time from egg to adult can decrease to about one week.
Host plants:
Lily bulbs and orchid plants
Vector capacity:
None identified
Current known distribution:
Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Central and South America, Europe, North America
Additional notes:
Rust colored shrunken areas at base of leaves on lily bulbs and orchid plants also causes leaf rolls.
Bibliography
Bailey, SF (1939): The
lily thrips. Bulletin of the Department of Agriculture of California
27: 479-483.
Bailey, SF (1957): The thrips
of California Part I: Suborder Terebrantia. Bulletin of the California
Insect Survey 4, no. 5: 143-220.
Cott, HE (1956): Sytematics of the suborder Tubulifera
(Thysanoptera) in California. University of California Publications in
Entomology Vol. 13, ppg. 216.
Lewis, T (1973): Thrips their biology, ecology and economic
importance. Academic Press Inc., London Ltd. 349 pp.
Malipatil,
MB, Mound, LA, Finlay, KJ & Semeraro, L (2002): First record
of lily thrips, Liothrips vaneeckei Priesner, in Australia (Thysanoptera
: Phlaeothripidae). - Australian Journal of Entomology 41: 159-160.
Moritz G, Morris DC, Mound LA (2001): ThripsID -
Pest thrips of the world. ACIAR
and CSIRO Publishing Collingwood, Victoria, Australia, CDROM ISBN
1 86320 296 X.
Mound, LA & Kibby, G (1998): Thysanoptera: An identification
guide, (2nd edition). CAB International, Wallingford and New
York, 70pp.
Mound, LA & Marullo, R (1996): The
thrips of Central and South America: An Introduction (Insecta: Thysanoptera).
Associated Publishers, Gainesville.
Palmer, JM, Mound, LA & Du Heaume, GJ (1989): 2.
Thysanoptera, pp. 73. In Betts, CR [ed.],
CIE Guides to Insects of Important to Man. CAB International, Wallingford.
Stannard, LJ (1968): The thrips, or Thysanoptera, of Illinois.
Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin 29: 215-552.
Links:
Mound, LA (2005): Thysanoptera (Thrips) of the World
- A Checklist. http://www.ento.csiro.au/thysanoptera/worldthrips.html