Aeolothrips nasturtii

Recognition data

Distinguishing features

Female with banded wings; median pale band shorter than distal dark band. Body and legs brown, antennal segment III yellow with only extreme apex dark, IV slightly paler at base. Head and pronotum with no long setae. Fore tarsus apically with stout recurved ventral hamus. Antennae 9-segmented, segment III long and slender with linear sensorium about 0.25 as long as segment, IV with sensorium less than 0.5 as long as segment and curved distally; segment VI slightly constricted at base and thus V–IX not forming a single unit, with V clearly shorter than VI–IX. Median marginal setae on sternites arising at or close to margin but lateral pairs arise on disc; sternite VII supernumerary paired setae arising medially on sternite.

Related and similar species

A. nasturtii is possibly a member of the A. fasciatus group, but with antennal segment VI clearly constricted at the base, and segment V shorter than VI–IX. Because the male remains unknown, the identity of A. nasturtii remains problematical. Just over 90 species are placed currently in the genus Aeolothrips, of which more than 50 are from the Palaearctic Region (mainly Europe), and 28 from the Nearctic (mainly western USA). Only two species are recorded from the Neotropics; the one from Chile is probably the same as A. fasciatus, and one from Panama is probably not a member of this genus (Mound & Marullo, 1996).

Taxonomic data

Current valid name

Aeolothrips nasturtii Jones

Original name and synonyms

• Aeolothrips nasturtii Jones, 1912: 2
• Aeolothrips tuolumnei Moulton, 1927: 187

Family placement

Aeolothripidae

Biological data

Life history

Presumably flower-living as a facultative predator with a mixed diet of pollen and the larvae of other thrips.

Host plants

Swept from a wide range of flowers and grasses, with no information on specificity.

Tospoviruses vectored

None

Crop damage

None

Distribution data

Area of origin

Possibly western USA.

Distribution

Although described from California, this species is considered by Bailey (1951) to be widespread across the USA north of Georgia and California, and into Canada.