ArticlePDF Available

Morphological and DNA Barcoding Evidence for Invasive Pest Thrips, Thrips parvispinus (Thripidae: Thysanoptera), Newly Recorded From India

July 2015
Journal of Insect Science 15(1):1-4

DOI:10.1093/jisesa/iev087

License
CC BY-NC 4.0

Authors:

Kaomud Tyagi

Zoological Survey of India

Vikas Kumar

Zoological Survey of India

Devkant Singha

National Institute of Biological Sciences (NCBS) Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR)

South East Asia pest thrips species, Thrips parvispinus (Karny), is a serious pest on a number of agricultural and horticultural crops in a number of plant families. Based on an integrated approach of morphology and DNA barcoding, invasion of this serious pest is reported first time from India on papaya plantations. Molecular data have corroborated with the morphological identification. Haplotyping data suggested that the Indonesia may be a probable source of invasion of this pest to India. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Entomological Society of America.

Median joining networks shows four different haplotypes of T. parvispinus by COI sequences.

…

NJ tree of T. parvispinus and T. orientalis. F. schultzei is used as an outgroup.

…

T. parvispinus, female (1) head and pronotum; (2) meso-and metanotum, (3) fore wing.

…

Segregating nucleotide sites in the T. parvispinus mtCOI nucleotide sites as depicted in four haplotypes

…

Figures - uploaded by Vikas Kumar

Content may be subject to copyright.

Content uploaded by Vikas Kumar

Content may be subject to copyright.

Available via license: CC BY-NC 4.0

Content may be subject to copyright.

Morphological and DNA Barcoding Evidence for Invasive Pest Thrips, Thrips parvispinus

(Thripidae: Thysanoptera), Newly Recorded From India

Kaomud Tyagi, Vikas Kumar,

Devkant Singha, and Rajasree Chakraborty

Centre for DNA Taxonomy, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata 700 053, West Bengal, India

Corresponding author, e-mail: vikaszsi77@gmail.com

Subject Editor: Roland Muehlethaler

J. Insect Sci. (2015) 15(1): 105; DOI: 10.1093/jisesa/iev087

ABSTRACT. South East Asia pest thrips species, Thrips parvispinus (Karny), is a serious pest on a number of agricultural and horticultural

crops in a number of plant families. Based on an integrated approach of morphology and DNA barcoding, invasion of this serious pest

is reported ﬁrst time from India on papaya plantations. Molecular data have corroborated with the morphological identiﬁcation.

Haplotyping data suggested that the Indonesia may be a probable source of invasion of this pest to India.

Key Words: invasive pest, thrips, COI, new record, papaya

Members of insect order Thysanoptera with two recognized suborders,

the Terebrantia and Tubulifera, are commonly called thrips. Out of

nearly 6,000 known species, a few have been documented as economi-

cally important, i.e., pollinator, predator, pest, and vector for plant vi-

ruses (Lewis 1997, Pappu et al. 2009, ThripsWiki 2015). As insect

vectors, thrips are sole transmitters of Tospoviruses (genus Tospovirus,

family Bunyaviridae) affecting a number of plant species in unrelated

plant families across the globe (Riley et al. 2011). The peculiarity in

tospoviruses transmission by thrips is that larvae can acquire the vi-

ruses, while adult can transmit (Whitfield et al. 2005).

Hence identification of both adults and larvae thrips is of prime impor-

tance for pest and vector management. Considering their minute size, cryp-

tic behavior, high degree of similarity of various developmental stages,

polymorphism, intraspecific variations, and complex morphology make

morphological characters of limited use to nonspecialist for accurate and

speedy identification especially those of pest and vector species (Asokan

et al. 2007). Nuclear markers like ribosomal ITS have also been used for

molecular identification in thrips (Toda and Komazaki 2002, Rugman-

Jones et al. 2006, Farris et al. 2010). However, mitochondrial COI (DNA

barcoding, Hebert et al. 2003) has been found to be the most suitable for

molecular identification within the genus Thrips (Glover et al. 2010). DNA

barcoding has been widely used in thrips identification (Rugman-Jones

et al. 2010, Kadirvel et al. 2013), development of species specific markers,

and phylogenetic analysis (Buckman et al. 2013). Integration of both mor-

phological and DNA barcoding data may be immense use for accurate spe-

cies identification and phylogenetic analysis (Mound et al. 2010).

Thrips parvispinus,amemberof“Thrips orientalis group” (Mound

2005), is a widespread pest thrips species of quarantine importance and

has been recorded from Thailand to Australia (Mound and Collins 2000)

as a serious pest on a number of unrelated plant families. It is reported on

papaya in Hawaii, greenhouse Gardenia plants in Greece, vegetable

crops like chili, green beans, potato, and eggplant from other countries

(Murai et al. 2009). Identification of an invasive pest is the first step

which unlocks the barriers for further research in planning appropriate

management strategies for the pest involved. The objective of this article

is to report invasive pest, T. parvispinus from India based on specimens

collected on papaya and elucidation of probable source of invasion.

Materials and Methods

Specimens were collected and stored in 70% ethanol at 80



DNA isolation and amplification of partial fragment of mtCOI gene,

purification of amplified PCR products, and sequencing were per-

formed as earlier protocol using non-destructive techniques (Buckman

et al. 2013, Kumar et al., 2014). Voucher specimens have been retrieved

after DNA isolation and mounted in Canada balsam onto glass slides

and identified as T. parvispinus using the morphological keys (Mound

2005). The voucher specimens have been submitted to National

Zoological Collections, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, India.

Eleven DNA sequences generated in this study were aligned against

80 sequences of T. parvispinus from Indonesia as retrieved from

National Centre for Biotechnology Information. Further, the generated

sequences were submitted to GenBank database to acquire the acces-

sion numbers for T. parvispinus (KM485659–KM485667) and Thrips

orientalis (KM507077–KM507078). T. orientalis is used as it is a

member of the “Thrips orientalis group.” Frankliniella schultzei

(KC513151) is used as outgroup. Evolutionary genetic divergences

with Kimura-2-parameter model and neighbor-joining (NJ) phyloge-

netic tree were constructed in MEGA 6.0 with 1,000 bootstrap replica-

tions (Tamura et al. 2013). Haplotyping was carried out in DNaSP, and

median joining networks were produced in Network 4.1 (Bandelt et al.

1999, Librado and Rozas 2009).

Results and Discussion

Morphological Data. Thrips parvispinus (Karny)

Isoneurothrips parvispinus Karny, 1922: 106.

Diagnosis. Body brown, head, and thorax paler than abdomen. Legs

yellow, forewings brown with pale base. Head broader than long, ocel-

lar pair III arising at the anterior margin of ocellar triangle; postocular

setae I and IV longer than III (Fig. 1). Antennae seven segmented, seg-

ments III and IV each with forked sense cone. Pronotum with two pairs

of posteroangulars setae and two pairs of posteromarginal setae

(Fig. 1). Metanotum reticulate medially and with faint internal reticules;

median setae long and placed behind the anterior margin; campaniform

sensilla absent (Fig. 2). Fore wing first and second vein with continuous

row of setae (Fig. 3). Posterior margin of tergite VIII without comb, a

few microtrichia present laterally. Abdominal sternites III–VI with

accessory setae, absent on II and VII.

Male. Body yellow. Posterior margin of tergite VIII without comb.

Abdominal sternites II–VI each with pore area.

Material examined. Thirteen females, two males, India: Karnataka:

Bangalore, 10.ii.2014, Kamlajayanti (Reg. No. 5618/H17 to 5628/H17,

5994/H17, 5998/H17, 5999/H17, 6000/H17 to 6001/H17).

The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Entomological Society of America.

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits

non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact jou rnals.permissions@oup.com

Journal of Insect Science

SHORT COMMUNICATION

by guest on December 18, 2015http://jinsectscience.oxfordjournals.org/Downloaded from

Molecular Data

Homology search using BLAST search option resulted in 99–100%

similarity to T. parvispinus sequences from Indonesia. W e analyzed 91

partial mtCOI sequences of T. parvispinus and T. orientalis in this study.

Out of which 11 sequences were generated in this study and rest of the 80

sequences were retrieved from National Centre for Biotechnology.

Complete dataset after trimming have 604 nucleotides, which shows 89

variable sites with 87 parsimony informative sites. However, the dataset

of 89 sequence of T. parvispinus yielded only 14 variable sites out of

which 10 were parsimony informative.

Analysis of 89 sequences of T. parvispinus yielded four haplotypes

(Hap_1 to Hap_4) (Fig. 4). Hap_1 and Hap_3 were from Indonesia.

Hap_2 includes 18 sequences from India and Indonesia. Hap_4 is rep-

resented by a single specimen from India (Table 1). The data show that

there is no host-plant or geographical locality specific haplotyping. The

total number of segregating sites between four derived haplotypes

varies from 1 to 13 (Table 1). Further, out of 14 segregating sites, 11

were detected as synonymous changes and 3 as nonsynonymous

changes corresponding to nine transitions and five transversions. The

analysis of NJ tree yielded two major clades with high bootstrap sup-

port; clade I includes 89 sequences of T. parvispinus from Indonesia

and India, while clade II is represented by two sequences of T. orientalis

(Fig. 5). F. schultzei is used as outgroup. NJ tree provided here is only

to segregate two species based on the reciprocal monophyly criteria and

not to interpret phylogeny of genus Thrips.

Both morphological and molecular evidences verify that the speci-

mens collected on papaya represents T. parvispinus. The presence of

this pest species on an economically important crop plant like papaya in

India raise serious issues and is a concern for quarantine authorities.

Occurrence of T. parvispinus in other parts of India needs systematic

monitoring as it is likely to acquire pest status in future. Molecular evi-

dence for shared haplotype (H_2) between Indonesia and India indi-

cated that there is a flow of genetic material, and Indonesia may be a

probable source of invasion of this species to India. However,

Figs. 1–3. T. parvispinus, female (1) head and pronotum; (2) meso- and metanotum, (3) fore wing.

2 JOURNAL OF INSECT SCIENCE VOLUME 15

by guest on December 18, 2015http://jinsectscience.oxfordjournals.org/Downloaded from

molecular data on this species from other countries may be helpful to

trace exact route of invasion.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Director, Zoological Survey of India for his

encouragement and moral support and providing necessary facilities.

We are thankful to Dr. L. A. Mound (CSIRO, Australia) for his sug-

gestions, constant encouragement, and comments on earlier draft of

this manuscript. This study was supported by the SERB (Science and

Engineering Research Board), Department of Science & Technology,

Delhi, through DST Young Scientist Project entitled “Molecular

Systematics and Phylogeny of Economically Important Thrips

(Thysanoptera: Insecta) of India” (SR/FT/LS-24/2012) to K.T. and

ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research) supported research

project outreach program on Management of Sucking Pests in

Horticultural Crops (ORP-SP) to V.K.

References Cited

Asokan R., N. K. Krishna Kumar, V. Kumar, and H. R. Ranganath. 2007.

Molecular differences in the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (mtCOI)

gene and development of a species-speciﬁc marker for onion thrips, Thrips

tabaci Lindeman, and melon thrips, T. palmi Karny (Thysanoptera:

Thripidae), vectors of tospoviruses (Bunyaviridae). Bull. Entomol. Res. 97:

461–470.

Bandelt, H. J., P. Forster, and A. Ro¨hl. 1999. Median-joining networks for in-

ferring intraspeciﬁc phylogenies. Mol. Biol. Evol. 16: 37–48.

Buckman, R. S., L. A. Mound, and M. F. Whiting. 2013. Phylogeny of thrips

(Insecta: Thysanoptera) based on ﬁve molecular loci. Syst. Entomol. 38:

123–133.

Farris, R. E., R. Ruiz-Arce, M. Ciomperlik, J. D. Vasquez, and R. DeLeon.

2010. Development of a ribosomal DNA ITS2 marker for the identiﬁcation

of the thrips, Scirtothrips dorsalis. J. Insect Sci. 10: 1–15.

Glover, R. H., D. W. Collins, K. Walsh, and N. Boonham. 2010. Assessment

of loci for DNA barcoding in the genus Thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae).

Mol. Ecol. Resour. 10: 51–59.

Hebert, P. D. N., A. Cywinska, S. L. Ball, and J. R. deWaard. 2003.

Biological identiﬁcations through DNA barcodes. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B.

Biol. Sci. 270: 313–321.

Kadirvel, P., R. Srinivasan, Y. C. Hsu, F. C. Su, and R. de la Pena. 2013.

Application of cytochrome oxidase I sequences for phylogenetic analysis and

identiﬁcation of thrips species occurring on vegetable crops. J. Econ.

Entomol. 106: 408–418.

Karny, H. 1922. Thysanoptera from Siam and Indo-China. J. Siam. Soc. 16:

91–153.

Kumar, V., K. Tyagi, B. Ghosh, and D. Singha. 2014. A new species of

Taeniothrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) from India. Zootaxa 3884: 197–200.

Lewis, T. 1997. Pest thrips in perspective, pp. 1–13. In T. Lewis (ed.), Thrips as

crop pests. CAB International, New York.

Librado, P., and J. Rozas. 2009. DnaSP v5: a software for comprehensive

analysis of DNA polymorphism data. Bioinformatics 25: 1451–1452.

Mound, L. A. 2005. The Thrips orientalis group from South-east Asia and

Australia: some species identities and relationships (Thysanoptera:

Thripidae). Aust. J. Entomol. 44: 420–424.

Mound, L. A., and D. W. Collins. 2000. A South East Asian pest species newly

recorded from Europe: Thrips parvispinus (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), its

confused identity and potential quarantine signiﬁcance. J. Eur. Entomol. 97:

197–200.

Mound, L. A., G. S. Wheeler, and D. A. Williams. 2010. Resolving cryptic

species with morphology and DNA; thrips as a potential biocontrol agent of

Brazilian peppertree, with a new species and overview of Pseudophilothrips

(Thysanoptera). Zootaxa 2432: 59–68.

Murai, T., H. Watanabe, W. Toriumi, T. Adati, and S. Okajima. 2009. Damage

to vegetable crops by Thrips parvispinus Karny (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) and

preliminary studies on biology and control. J. Insect Sci. 10: 166.

Pappu, H. R., R. A. C. Jones, and R. K. Jain. 2009. Global status of tospovi-

rus epidemics in diverse cropping systems: successes achieved and chal-

lenges ahead. Virus. Res. 141: 219–236.

Riley, D. G., S. V. Joseph, R. Srinivasan, and S. Difﬁe. 2011. Thrips vectors

of tospoviruses. J. Int. Pest Manage. 1: 1–10.

Rugman-Jones, P. F., M. S. Hoddle, L. A. Mound, and R. Stouthamer. 2006.

Molecular identiﬁcation key for pest species of Scirtothrips (Thysanoptera:

Thripidae). J. Econ. Entomol. 99: 1813–1819.

Fig. 4. Median joining networks shows four different haplotypes of

T. parvispinus by COI sequences.

Table 1. Segregating nucleotide sites in the T. parvispinus mtCOI

nucleotide sites as depicted in four haplotypes

Haplotypes 16 66 72 104 123 150 165 179 279 360 364 495 537 570

Hap_1 (Indonesia),

n ¼ 63

CAT AT T A G ATTTAT

Hap_2 (Indonesia,

India), n ¼ 18

......... C. . . .

Hap_3 (Indonesia),

n ¼ 7

TG.. C. G. GCCCTA

Hap_4 (India), n ¼ 1..GG. G. T . C. . . .

Transversions are shown in bold. A dot indicates an identical nucleotide with respect to Hap_1.

Fig. 5. NJ tree of T. parvispinus and T. orientalis. F. schultzei is used

as an outgroup.

2015 TYAGI ET AL: NEW INVASIVE PEST THRIPS FROM INDIA 3

by guest on December 18, 2015http://jinsectscience.oxfordjournals.org/Downloaded from

Rugman-Jones, P. F., M. S. Hoddle, and R. Stouthamer. 2010. Nuclear-mito-

chondrial barcoding exposes the global pest western ﬂower thrips

(Thysanoptera: Thripidae) as two sympatric cryptic species in its native

California. J. Econ. Entomol. 103: 877–886.

Tamura, K., G. Stecher, D. Peterson, A. Filipski, and S. Kumar. 2013.

MEGA6: molecular evolutionary genetics analysis version 6.0. Mol. Biol.

Evol. 30: 2725–2729.

ThripsWiki. 2015. Thrips Wiki—providing information on the World’s thrips.

(http://thrips.info/wiki/Main Page) (accessed 26 April 2015).

Toda, S., and S. Komazaki. 2002. Identiﬁcation of thrips species

(Thysanoptera: Thripidae) on Japanese fruit trees by polymerase chain reac-

tion and restriction fragment length polymorphism of the ribosomal ITS2 re-

gion B. Entomol. Res. 92: 359–363.

Whitﬁeld, A. E., D. E. Ullman, and T. L. German. 2005. Tospovirus-thrips

interactions. Annu. Rev. Phytopathol. 43: 459–489.

Received 29 April 2015; accepted 1 July 2015.

4 JOURNAL OF INSECT SCIENCE VOLUME 15

by guest on December 18, 2015http://jinsectscience.oxfordjournals.org/Downloaded from

Global Invasion of Thrips parvispinus (Karny) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) Across Three Continents Associated With Its One Haplotype

Article

Full-text available

Nov 2024
J APPL ENTOMOL

Thrips parvispinus (Karny) is an exotic pest that has invaded many regions around the world in the last three decades. It was first detected in Florida in 2020 on ornamental plants ( Hoya and Anthurium ) in greenhouses and subsequently on ornamental plants in residential landscapes ( Gardenia ) in 2021. However, its first report on open vegetable field crops ( Capsicum ) in Florida was in 2022. We conducted field surveys and genetic analysis to answer three questions: (1) Is the population of T. parvispinus that invaded Florida the same as the one that has spread globally in the last few decades? (2) Is the host expansion to Capsicum in Florida a new population or the extension of the existing population reported on ornamental plants? and (3) What are the native and invaded distribution ranges of T. parvispinus ? We analysed the genetic variation in the mitochondrial gene cytochrome oxidase I (COI) to address these questions. The global genetic diversity analysis of T. parvispinus revealed 18 haplotypes (populations) worldwide based on available data, but only one population (Hap1) invaded three continents: Africa, Europe, and North America. Based on available data, the highest haplotype diversity was observed in India, suggesting India may be part of the presumed native range (South and Southeast Asian countries) of T. parvispinus . Our survey of retail plant stores across 10 Florida counties indicated that plant trade is the source of T. parvispinus in open vegetable field crops and ornamental landscape plants. The outcome of this study will assist with regulatory and management decisions of T. parvispinus in Florida and elsewhere.

Host-specific development of Thrips parvispinus (Karny) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae): demography, phylogeny, and biological control prospects in India

Article

Full-text available

Oct 2024
PHYTOPARASITICA

Thrips parvispinus (Karny) is a significant polyphagous pest native to Southeast Asia. It invaded India in 2015, causing substantial economic damage to chilli. The farmers resort to the indiscriminate spraying to manage the pest. Despite the thrips invasion in 2015, the biology and demography of T. parvispinus were not recorded in India, which is crucial for identifying weak stages for successful management. The present study aims to understand the biology and life-table parameters of T. parvispinus on chilli and capsicum and explore the potential of entomopathogens as biological control agents under laboratory conditions. The identity of T. parvispinus was confirmed through morphological keys and molecular sequencing of the Cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene (GenBank No: OR366449.1). The phylogenetic analysis revealed that the study population was identical to the original resident population, and there is no genetic divergence in the sequences compared. The T. parvispinus had the shortest developmental duration on chilli, with an egg incubation period of 4.57 days and a total life cycle of 25.07 days, compared to 27.64 days on capsicum. The intrinsic rate of increase (r) was higher on chilli (0.13) than on capsicum (0.11), indicating a faster population growth in chilli. The T. parvispinus population doubles every 5.17 days on chilli and every 6.46 days on capsicum. Interestingly, pre-pupa have the lowest survival rate on chilli (0.65) and capsicum (0.6). The Cladosporium spp. was identified (GenBank No: PQ106983) as a potential biocontrol agent, causing significant mortality in T. parvispinus populations (69.10% at 1 × 10⁸ conidia/mL). The ditrophic interaction was studied through SEM imaging, showing that at 72 hpi, multiple points of penetration from a germinating conidium were observed, and at 120 hpi, extrusion was noticed from the oral opening. The findings suggest that targeting the vulnerable immature stages of T. parvispinus and integrating entomopathogens like Cladosporium spp. could enhance sustainable pest management strategies, reducing reliance on synthetic insecticides and mitigating their ecological impact.

Chili pestiferous thrips Thrips parvispinus (Karny, 1922) and Thrips tabaci (Lindman, 1889) (Thripidae: Thysanoptera) antennal structural characterisation

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2024

Thrips are among the most serious pests attacking many economically important crops. They causes significant damage to plants by lacerating and sucking sap from the leaves, growing tips, flowers, and fruits leading to silvery spots, stunted growth, flower drop, and fruits deformation, ultimately resulting in severe economic yield losses in many crops. In addition to the damage caused, they act as vectors for various viral plant diseases. Antennal sensilla plays a crucial role in the chemical communication of thrips. However, studies on the types of sensilla in thrips are limited to a few species. Therefore, using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), this study examined the different types of sensilla in two pestiferous thrips species, Thrips parvispinus Karny and T. tabaci Lindman. The antenna of the thrips were found to consist of nine types of sensilla viz., Bohm bristles (BB), microtrichia (MT), sensilla basiconica(SB), sensilla campaniformia(SCa), sensilla cavity(SCav), sensilla chaetica(SCh), sensilla coeloconica(SCo), sensilla styloconica(SSt), and sensilla trichoidea(ST). The microscopy observations revealed that all these sensilla were present in T. parvispinus while SSt was absent in T. tabaci. Sensilla chaetica were more abundant in Thrips tabaci than in Thrips parvispinus. Based on the results, the types of antennal sensilla and their functions in thrips are also discussed.

Population dynamics of new invasive black thrips (Thrips parvispinus KARNZ) infesting chilli under open field conditions

Article

Nov 2024

Shifting Pest Paradigms in Indian Crops: A Comprehensive Review of Emerging Threats

Article

Jan 2024

Sustainable crop production directly relates to the insect repercussions in future climates. In recent times, it has been essential to look over the changes in the pest scenario as the categories of pests may shift. Such deviations in the pest status are due to multiple factors viz., increased temperature, rise in Co2 levels, etc. This is well-witnessed in a wide array of crops. Changes in these factors favour the pest species depending on their ecology. Monitoring the climate and pest population is vital for understanding the effect of climate change on insect pests. Therefore, the forecasting and prediction models must be adjusted considering the evolving circumstances. This review examines these changes in key crops, including pearl millet, maize, okra, cotton, tomato, chilli, cassava, mango and coconut. Significant pest shifts include the replacement of stem borer and shoot fly by fall armyworm in maize and the rise of sucking pests in Bt cotton. New invasive pests such as Tuta absoluta in tomato and Thrips parvispinus in chilly underscore the shifting pest landscape. The review highlights the importance of monitoring pest populations and advocates for integrated pest management (IPM) strategies, the development of resistant varieties and conservation of natural enemies to mitigate economic losses.

Comparative Bio Assay of New Generation Insecticides against Invasive Southeast Asian Thrips, Thrips parvispinus (Karny) (Thripidae:Thysanoptera)

Article

Oct 2024

Aims: Management of invasive southeast Asian thrips, Thrips parvispinus under laboratory conditions. Study Design: Completely Randomized Design. Place and Duration of Study: Regional Agricultural Research Station, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh during 2023. Methodology: Bio assays study was conducted with eleven insecticides for the Management of Thrips parvispinus under laboratory conditions following leaf dip method replicated thrice. Mortality and corrected mortality were assessed at 24 and 48 hours after treatment imposition by counting the number of dead and live adults. Results: Bio assay study revealed that the insecticide broflanilide 300 DC @ 64.0 ml/ha recorded significant high percent mortality of 93.3 at 48 hours after exposure. The insecticides fluxametamide 10 EC @ 400 ml/ha, tolfenpyrad 15 EC@ 1000 ml/ha, spinoterom 11.7 SC @ 500 ml/ ha and fipronil 5 SC @1000 ml/ha were at par with broflanilide 300 DC with 90.0, 90.0, 86.7 and 86.7 percent mortality, respectively. Lowest mortality of 6.0 percent was observed in untreated control where the leaves were agitated in distilled water. The corrected mortality was calculated and the insecticides broflanilide 300 DC (92.59 %), fluxametamide 10 EC (88.9), tolfenpyrad 15 EC (89.3), spinetoram 11.7 SC (85.9) and fipronil 5 SC @400 ml/acre (85.2) recorded high corrected mortality at 48 hours of post treatment.

Biology and morphometrics of Thrips parvispinus (Karny) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) on chilli, Capsicum annuum L.

Article

Full-text available

Jun 2024

The Southeast Asian thrips, Thrips parvispinus (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), has recently invaded India, posing a significant threat to the country's chilli industry. Laboratory studies were conducted at the Department of Agricultural Entomology, College of Agriculture, Raichur, to understand the growth and development of this invasive pest on chilli. The study was conducted at controlled conditions of 25 ± 1 °C and a relative humidity of 65 ± 5%. The results revealed that the mean egg incubation period was 5.74±0.34 days, with egg dimensions measuring 0.23 ± 0.01 mm in length and 0.13±0.01 mm in breadth. The first and second larval instars lasted 2.16 ± 0.24 days and 3.76±0.42 days, respectively, with a total larval duration of 5.92 ± 0.66 days. The pre-pupal stage lasted 1.83 ± 0.23 days, while the pupal stage lasted 4.17 ± 0.50 days. Adult males had an average lifespan of 5.55 ± 0.46 days, whereas adult females lived for 10.18±0.47 days. The pre-oviposition, oviposition, and post-oviposition periods were 2.51±0.24 days, 3.58 ± 0.25 days, and 4.09±0.37 days, respectively. The mean fecundity was 15.53 ± 3.46 eggs per female. This study provides the first documented report on the biological parameters of T. parvispinus in the invaded regions.

Field Evaluation of Integrated Pest Management Strategies against Chilli Black Thrips Thrips parvispinus (Karny), in the Srikakulam District

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2024

Chilli (Capsicum annum L) is an important spice crop grown extensively in India for both domestic and export markets. Invasive black thrips Thrips parvispinus has been causing destructive damage to chilli crop in India leading to indiscriminate use of insecticidal sprays. On-farm trials were conducted during Kharif and Rabi 2022-23 & 2023-24 to evaluate Integrated Pest Management practices against black thrips with emphasis on minimal pesticidal sprays with different mode of actions so that pests may not develop resistance which will reduce the residues on the produce in the farmer’s fields of Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh. IPM adopted fields i.e. seed treatment, marigold as trap crop, erection of blue sticky traps, Beauveria bassiana spray and Neem oil and Fipronil 5 SC spray at 30 DAT; Imidacloprid+Fipronil 40%WG spray at 50 DAT; have shown 40 to 85 per cent reduction in black thrips infestation over farmers practice during all the seasons of both the years. This resulted in a higher average mean yield of 57 q/ha, average net returns of Rs. 4,96,000 per hectare with cost benefit ratio of 3.29 in IPM fields over farmer’s practice depicting that the adoption of IPM practices helped in reducing the pest incidence and increase in yield, net returns.

Management of black thrips in chilli in India: A review

Article

Sep 2024

India is the largest producer of chilli as cash crop in all over the world, contributing almost 43% of global production. Indian chilli is world famous for its colour and pungency levels. Thrips and mites are very common insect pests of chilli that can seriously harm chilli crop from the seedling stage to reproductive stage. In case of thrips, both in their adult and nymphal stages harm the chilli crop by drawing sap from the leaves, shoots, buds and fruits. Long-term thrips feeding will curl delicate leaves and buds, change the colour of the blossoms and fruit from bronze to black, and make the plant material unsellable.

Morphological and molecular characterization of cryptic and invasive thrips species in Central India

Article

Aug 2024
Int J Trop Insect Sci

Thrips is one of the important sucking pests infesting vegetable crops causing huge economic damage directly by sucking plant sap and indirectly by transmitting orthotospoviruses in the world as well as in India. Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh are very important vegetable producing states of India but lacking sound knowledge on incidence and distribution pattern, virus transmission efficiencies of the economically important thrips species occurring on vegetables. The identification of existence of different cryptic species of thrips within a genus is very difficult to distinguish using morphological parameters. Therefore, intensive sampling of thrips species was done on three important solanaceous vegetable crops (tomato, chilli and brinjal) in these two states and were subjected to morphological and molecular diagnostic techniques. Results revealed that nine distinct species of thrips belonging to six genera were known to occur on vegetables in these states. Interestingly, we report three cryptic species of thrips, Haplothrips ganglbaueri Schmutz and Thrips parvispinus (Karny) in Chhattisgarh, and Haplothrips gowdeyi (Franklin) in Madhya Pradesh for the first time. The other six species recorded were Thrips palmi Karny, Frankliniella schuttzei Trybom, Thrips florum Schmutz, Bathrips melanicornis, Thrips hawaiiensis (Morgan), and Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood. The most dominant species was found to be S. dorsalis, followed by T. palmi. The current study reports distribution of nine distinct thrips species including three cryptic species and an invasive species, T. parvispinus which is spreading very fast in central India.

MEGA6: Molecular evolutionary genetics analysis

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2013

Resolving cryptic species with morphology and DNA; thrips as a potential biocontrol agent of Brazilian peppertree, with a new species and overview of Pseudophilothrips (Thysanoptera)

Article

Full-text available

Apr 2010
ZOOTAXA

Molecular and morphological evidence is presented to support the description of a second species of Pseudophilothrips from Brazil in association with Schinus terebinthifolius, an invasive weedy tree in North America. Pseudophilothrips is here recognized as a weakly defined genus comprising 13 described species from the Americas. This genus is presumably derived from within, rather than sister-genus to, the worldwide genus Liothrips of leaf-feeding species.

Biological identification through DNA barcodes

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2003

Although much biological research depends upon species diagnoses, taxonomic expertise is collapsing. We are convinced that the sole prospect for a sustainable identification capability lies in the construction of systems that employ DNA sequences as taxon 'barcodes'. We establish that the mitochondrial gene cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) can serve as the core of a global bioidentification system for animals. First, we demonstrate that COI profiles, derived from the low-density sampling of higher taxonomic categories, ordinarily assign newly analysed taxa to the appropriate phylum or order. Second, we demonstrate that species-level assignments can be obtained by creating comprehensive COI profiles. A model COI profile, based upon the analysis of a single individual from each of 200 closely allied species of lepidopterans, was 100% successful in correctly identifying subsequent specimens. When fully developed, a COI identification system will provide a reliable, cost-effective and accessible solution to the current problem of species identification. Its assembly will also generate important new insights into the diversification of life and the rules of molecular evolution.

A south east Asian pest species newly recorded from Europe: Thrips parvispinus (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), its confused identity and potential quarantine significance

Article

Full-text available

Oct 2000

The south east Asian pest thrips, Thrips parvispinus is re corded breeding in Europe for the first time, damaging Gardenia plants in Greece. Morphological variation in this species from various Asian countries is recorded and compared to the type specimens. As a result Isoneurothrips jenseni Karny, 1925 and Thrips (Isoneurothrips) taiwanus Takahashi, 1936 are placed as synonyms of Thrips parvispinus (Karny, 1922). In contrast, Thrips compressicornis (Sakimura), a species from the Marquesa Islands of the Pacific that has previously been associated with these taxa, represents a very different species. The quarantine significance of T. parvispinus is emphasised.

Phylogeny of thrips (Insecta: Thysanoptera) based on five molecular loci

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2013

The order Thysanoptera (Paraneoptera), commonly known as thrips, displays a wide range of behaviours, and includes several pest species. The classification and suggested relationships among these insects remain morphologically based, and have never been evaluated formally with a comprehensive molecular phylogenetic analysis. We tested the monophyly of the suborders, included families and the recognized subfamilies, and investigated their relationships. Phylogenies were reconstructed based upon 5299 bp from five genetic loci: 18S ribosomal DNA, 28S ribosomal DNA, Histone 3, Tubulin‐alpha I and cytochrome oxidase c subunit I. Ninety‐nine thrips species from seven of the nine families, all six subfamilies and 70 genera were sequenced. Maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses all strongly support a monophyletic Tubulifera and Terebrantia. The families Phlaeothripidae, Aeolothripidae, Melanthripidae and Thripidae are recovered as monophyletic. The relationship of Aeolothripidae and Merothripidae to the rest of Terebrantia is equivocal. Molecular data support previous suggestions that Aeolothripidae or Merothripidae could be a sister to the rest of Terebrantia. Four of the six subfamilies are recovered as monophyletic. The two largest subfamilies, Phlaeothripinae and Thripinae, are paraphyletic and require further study to understand their internal relationships.

MEGA6: Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis Version 6.0

Article

Full-text available

Oct 2013
MOL BIOL EVOL

We announce the release of an advanced version of the Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis (MEGA) software, which currently contains facilities for building sequence alignments, inferring phylogenetic histories, and conducting molecular evolutionary analysis. In version 6.0, MEGA now enables the inference of timetrees, as it implements our RelTime method for estimating divergence times for all branching points in a phylogeny. A new Timetree Wizard in MEGA6 facilitates this timetree inference by providing a graphical user interface (GUI) to specify the phylogeny and calibration constraints step-by-step. This version also contains enhanced algorithms to search for the optimal trees under evolutionary criteria and implements a more advanced memory management that can double the size of sequence data sets to which MEGA can be applied. Both GUI and command-line versions of MEGA6 can be downloaded from www.megasoftware.net free of charge.

Application of Cytochrome Oxidase I Sequences for Phylogenetic Analysis and Identification of Thrips Species Occurring on Vegetable Crops

Article

Full-text available

Feb 2013
J ECON ENTOMOL

Thrips are direct pests as well as vectors of important viruses infecting crop plants. One of the major constraints in studying the relationship between thrips vectors and tospoviruses is the difficulty of identifying the vector species because of high intraspecific variation among thrips populations. Molecular approaches have been used to identify species differences. In this study, partial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) sequences were used to understand the phylogenetic relationship among thrips populations, and assess their usefulness to identify and classify unknown thrips species collected from different crops. In total, 29 COI variants were obtained while examining the sequence polymorphisms in COI of 182 insects analyzed in this study, which were collected from six countries on tomato, chilli, onion, cabbage, cucumber, watermelon, Ethiopian mustard, French bean, and peanut. The phylogenetic analysis showed that the insects used in this study clustered with five distinct species-groups designated as Thrips palmi group, T. tabaci group, Frankliniella occidentalis group, Scirtothrips dorsalis group and an unclassified group. Higher intraspecific genetic variation was observed in S. dorsalis and T. palmi followed by T. tabaci and F. occidentalis. Thus, it was confirmed that the COI gene could be useful in grouping different thrips species and genera that coexist in a particular cropping system.

Thrips Vectors of Tospoviruses

Article

Full-text available

Apr 2011

Tospoviruses belong to the sole phytovirus genus, Tospovirus, in the family Bunyaviridae. Tospoviruses are known to be exclusively transmitted by thrips belonging to the family Thripidae and subfamily Thripinae. Of the known 1,710 species of Thripidae only 14 thrips species are currently reported to transmit tospoviruses. Thrips-transmitted tospoviruses cause severe yield losses to several economically important crops in the United States and worldwide. For instance, a single Tospovirus (Tomato spotted wilt virus) alone caused an estimated $1.4 billion in losses in the U.S. over 10 years. Global trade and associated movement of plant materials across borders have introduced tospoviruses and their vectors into newer areas. Advances in serological and molecular techniques have also led to identification of new tospoviruses. This scenario has also initiated new vector-pathogen interactions between introduced and native thrips species and tospoviruses. The goal of this manuscript is to provide a comprehensive and updated list of thrips species that serve as vectors of tospoviruses along with information pertaining to common names, key diagnostic characters, distribution, important crops economically affected, and thrips and Tospovirus-induced symptoms. The manuscript is prepared with special emphasis to the U.S., but information pertaining to other countries is also included.

Pest thrips in perspective.

Article

Jan 1997

Lewis

A new species of Taeniothrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) from India. Zootaxa, 3884 (2): 197-200.

Article

Nov 2014
ZOOTAXA

The genus Taeniothrips, one of the oldest generic names in the Thysanoptera, was established by Amyot & Serville (1843) for four species described by Haliday (1836) in the genus Thrips: primulae, decora, dispar and brevicornis. The type species of Taeniothrips was designated by Karny (1907: 45) as primulae. Ahlberg (1918) recognised that primulae and picipes Zetterstedt represent the same species, but mistakenly considered that picipes dated from 1840 not 1828. Of the four species listed originally by Amyot & Serville, primulae and decora are now considered synonyms of picipes, and brevicornis is a synonym of dispar in the genus Baliothrips (see ThripsWiki 2014). The genus Taeniothrips is found in Holarctic region, Southeast Asia and India, but of the 45 listed species 21 are fossils (Mound et al. 2012). In India, Taeniothrips is known by only three species, T. major Bagnall, T. orchidi Ananthakrishnan and T. tigris Bhatti (Bhatti 1990, 1995).