Genus of thrips
Franklinothrips is a genus of thrips with pantropical distribution.
Name.
The genus name is derived from the surname of entomologist H. J. Franklin, who described thrips taxa in the early 1900s. The thrips genus "Frankliniella" is also named after him. Franklin worked at the entomology department of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the 1930s.
Reproduction.
Most species are apparently bisexual (have both males and females) and occur only in small areas. An exception is "F. vespiformis", which is unisexual (mostly females) and occurs in many tropical countries. Only few males were produced during rearing programmes involving "F. vespiformis".
Mimicry.
The fast-running females are easily misidentified as ants or bethylid wasps (superfamily Chrysidoidea), as they closely mimic ants in behavior and body form. Males are less ant-like in appearance, being smaller, with longer antennae and a less constricted waist.
Feeding behavior.
"F. orizabensis" is known to be unable to survive solely on plant food. It is used as a control agent against thrips on avocado trees. Together with "F. vespiformis" it has been marketed in Europe as a control agent against thrips in greenhouses. "F. vespiformis" also feeds on mites, nymphs of a whitefly species and the larvae of an agromyzid fly. "F. megalops" has been used for thrips control in "internal landscapes".
Taxonomy.
The three neotropical species "F. orizabensis", "F. tenuicornis" and "F. vespiformis" are closely related.
The species "F. megalops", "F. rarosae" and "F. variegatus" appear to part of a cline across the Old World tropics from Africa to Australia, with "F. rarosae" being intermediate in appearance as well as distribution.
The only genus closely related to "Franklinothrips" is "Corynothripoides" from Africa, and its only species, "C. marginipennis", could even belong to the same genus.
"F. caballeroi" and "F. suzukii" are possibly the same species, with one having been distributed through horticultural trade.
References.
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