Reconocimiento de Trips (Insecta: Thysanoptera) En Floricultivos de Tres Corregimientos Del Municipio de Medellín, Antioquia (Colombia)

Abstract

In the Colombian Flower Agriculture, thrips represent one of the greatest plant health problems, not only because of the direct damage that they cause, but also because some of them are vectors of diseases. Given that, the flower growers in the Medellin municipality lack information about these insects, this project was proposed to provided knowledge of thrips species, plants associated with them, and their spatial distribution. We used a sample of 29 ornamental species located in 56 farms. Specimens of thrips were collected directly from the plants for their later identification. The processing of the samples and their identification was performed at the laboratory of diagnosis of ICA Tulio Ospina. The species identified were: Anaphothrips obscurus Müller, Frankliniella insularis Franklin, Frankliniella nr. citripes, Frankliniella occidentalis Pergande, Frankliniella panamensis Hood, Neohydatothrips signifer Priesner, Psectothrips palmerae, Thrips australis Bagnall, Thrips palmi Karny, Thrips simplex Morison, and Thrips tabaci Lindeman. Specimens of four species were collected and have been identified at the level of genera: Frankliniella sp. 1., Neohydatothrips sp. 1., Scirtothrips sp. 1. and Thrips sp.1. In relation to the sampled plant organ, we observed that 80% of thrips were gathered from the flowers. The greatest trips populations were found in pompon ( Chrysanthemum sp.) and in aster ( Aster sp.). F. occidentalis (the western flower thrips) was found to be the most abundant species of thrips and the one with the widest geographical distribution.