Especies de trips (Insecta: Thysanoptera: Thripidae) en las flores de ornamentales

Abstract

Since thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) are polyphagous, they are usually caught in flowers of many crops, but it does not necessary mean they are pests. The aim of this survey was to list the thrips presence and abundance in ornamental crops. During february 2005 were collected flowers form 65 plant species, and they were recorded thrips, in different abundance levels in 49 plant species. The thrips species more frequently found were Thrips simplex (Morison) (gladiolus thrips), Frankliniella schultzei Trybom (blossom thrips), Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) (western flower thrips), Frankliniella insularis Franklin (malvaviscus thrips) and Frankliniella gemina Bagnall. For T. simplex - a gladiolus pest - it was recorded a mean abundance of 5 to 10 individuals per flower in that crop (considering larvae, adults or both). Similar densities were recorded also for F. schultzei in Lathyrus latifolius, Ipomea and Tropaleum majus, F. insularis in Punica granatum, Malvaviscus arboreus, Hibiscus rosa sinensis and Duranta erecta, and for F. gemina in Agapanthus africanus and Dietes bicolor. It is expected these preliminary results may assist in the establishment of priorities for future research on thrips-crops interaction.