Journal of Threatened Taxa
| www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 February 2018 | 10(2): 11312–11315
Two new reports of thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) from India
R.R. Rachana 1 & R. Varatharajan 2
1 Division of Insect Systematics,
ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources, Bengaluru, Karnataka
560024, India
2 Centre of Advanced Study in Life Sciences,
Manipur University, Imphal, Manipur 795003, India
1 vavarachana@gmail.com (corresponding
author), 2 rvrajanramya@gmail.com
doi: http://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3380.10.2.11312-11315| ZooBank:
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:83F975BA-5356-45F3-8CE7-DE44E5A3130B
Editor: Mariana
Flores Lindner, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brasil. Date of publication:
26 February 2018 (online & print)
Manuscript details: Ms # 3380 |
Received 01 March 2017 | Final received 15 January 2018 | Finally accepted 10
February 2018
Citation: Rachana, R.R. & R. Varatharajan (2018). Two new reports of thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) from India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 10(2): 11312–11315; http://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3380.10.2.11312-11315
Copyright: İ Rachana & Varatharajan
2018. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License. JoTT allows
unrestricted use of this article in any medium, reproduction and distribution
by providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of publication.
Funding: ICAR-National
Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources, Bengaluru..
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing
interests.
Acknowledgements: The
study is funded by CRP-Agrobiodiversity Project of
the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, ICAR - New Delhi. We thank Dr. L.
A. Mound, CSIRO Australia for species confirmation. The authors gratefully
acknowledge Dr. K. Veenakumari for the specimens of C.
punctipennis. Thanks are due to Dr. Chandish R. Ballal, Director, NBAIR, for encouragement and facilities provided and to Dr.
Sunil Joshi, NBAIR for his help in photography.
Abstract: Caliothrips punctipennis
(Hood) and the male of Western Flower Thrips Frankliniella occidentalis
(Pergande) have been recorded for the first time
from India. F. occidentalis was collected on
the leaves of Erythrina indica
from Ooty in the Nilgiris,
the Western Ghats, southern India, whereas C. punctipennis
was collected from yellow pan traps laid at Great Nicobar, India. Considering the quarantine importance of
the pest F. occidentalis, the report of the
male for the first time in India needs attention and concern. Males are also known to be more
effective vectors of tospoviruses than females. Xerochrysum bracteatum, the Common Golden
Everlasting Daisy, is often taken out of Ooty by
tourists to other parts of the country. This along with other planting materials
carried by tourists and farmers could aid in the dispersal of F. occidentalis to the temperate regions of northern and
southern India, where it is likely to thrive in the congenial climatic
conditions prevalent there. Under
these circumstances, it is imperative that quarantine mechanisms within the
country are activated and strengthened, to prevent the spread of this notorious
pest to the rest of India from the pockets of its occurrence in southern India
- particularly the Nilgiris. The diagnostic characters of both
species are discussed.
Keywords: Caliothrips punctipennis,
Frankliniella occidentalis,
new record, Thysanoptera, Western Flower Thrips.
Described originally from western USA, the
Western Flower Thrips (WFT), Frankliniella
occidentalis (Pergande)
is a major pest and tospoviruses vector that is now
found worldwide (Kirk & Terry 2003).
It causes direct feeding damage to a wide variety of agricultural and
horticultural crops and is an important vector of tospoviruses
(family Tospoviridae, genus Orthotospovirus),
causing heavy economic loss across the globe (Jones et al. 2010; Adams et al.
2017). So far, 14 species of thrips have been reported as vectors for tospoviruses.
Out of these, F. occidentalis is
responsible for the transmission of as many as five species of tospoviruses (Chrysanthemum Stem Necrosis Virus, Groundnut
Ring Spot Virus, Impatiens Necrotic Spot Virus, Tomato Chlorotic
Spot Virus, Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus / Groundnut Bud Necrosis Virus) (Riley et
al. 2011).
The genus Frankliniella
was erected by Karny (1910) in the form of a
footnote, and the type species, Thrips intonsa Trybom, was
subsequently designated by Hood (1914).
Sakimura & OĠNeill (1979) redefined the
genus Frankliniella Karny
based on the pattern of abdominal ctenidia and
associated setae. The species has
not been reported from India, until Tyagi & Kumar
(2015) collected four females in 2014 from Bengaluru, Karnataka, without any
males in their collection. Studies
on recent collections from Ooty, Tamil Nadu has
revealed the presence of a single male specimen, the first record of the male
of F. occidentalis from India, which is
reported below.
The genus Caliothrips,
erected by Daniel in 1904, comprises 25 described species worldwide (Thripswiki - referred on 7 December 2017), with five
species known from India (Rachana & Varatharajan 2017).
Hood in 1912 described the species punctipennis
under the genus Heliothrips. Caliothrips
is closely related to many Panchaetothripinae genera,
but can be recognized by the following characters: parallel cheeks, one
segmented tarsi, antennal segments III and IV with forked sense cones, absence
of a complete comb of microtrichia on hind margin of tergite VIII (Wilson 1975). In addition, members of the genus Caliothrips are recognisable by the form of
sculpture on head and pronotum, with prominent
markings within the reticulations and the presence of a coiled apodeme within each hind coxa. This apodeme
may be one of the various adaptations amongst adults of thrips
that are associated with the ability to jump suddenly (Mound et al. 2011).
The objective of this paper is to report
the occurrence of Caliothrips punctipennis and the male of F. occidentalis
for the first time in India. In the
order Thysanoptera, males are always less numerous
than females and sometimes hardly noticed (Ananthakrishnan
1984). Considering the quarantine
importance of the pest, the report of the male needs attention and concern.
Materials and Methods
Random taxonomic surveys were conducted
from 16–20 February 2016 and 15–--24 March
2016 at Ooty, Tamil Nadu and the Andaman &
Nicobar islands, India, respectively, for collection
of thrips.
Specimens were collected by the standard beating method and were
preserved in thrips collecting media (nine parts 10%
alcohol + 1 part glacial acetic acid + 1 ml Triton X-100 in 1000 ml of the
mixture). Specimens were mounted in
Canada balsam for permanent preservation (Ananthakrishnan
& Sen 1980).
The specimens were collected at random, subsequently sorted out and
identified using appropriate keys (Wilson 1975; Cavalleri
& Mound 2012).
Results
Caliothrips punctipennis (Hood)
Material examined: Two females
(ICAR/NBAIR/THYS/91–92), 21.iii.2016, India, Nicobar islands, Yellow pan
trap collection, coll. Prashanth Mohanraj.
All the specimens have been deposited at ICAR - National Bureau of Agricultural
Insect Resources (ICAR-NBAIR), Bengaluru, Karnataka,
India.
Diagnosis
Female macroptera
(Image 1): Body dark brown. Antennal segments I, II and
VI–VIII brown; III–V yellowish with brown at apex. Legs yellow with femora and tibia brown
medially. Fore wings whitish-yellow
with a small brown patch at fork of veins and brown at apex. Lateral third of abdominal tergites covered by hexagonal reticulations bearing
wrinkles; reticulations transversing
anterior third of each tergite. These reticules are arranged in vertical
rows of three or four with wrinkles laterally.
Distribution: India (Nicobar
island) (new record); Mexico (Hood 1912); USA (Georgia, Florida) (Diffie et al. 2008).
Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande)
Material examined: One male
(ICAR/NBAIR/THYS/70), nine females (ICAR/NBAIR/THYS/71–79), 18.ii.2016,
India, Ooty, host - Erythrina
indica (Fabaceae),
coll. R.R. Rachana. All the specimens have been deposited at
ICAR - National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources (ICAR-NBAIR),
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
Diagnosis
Male macroptera
(Image 2): Body pale yellow with small faintly shaded patches on abdominal tergites, legs yellow, antennal segments I yellow, II light
brown, III–IV yellow with light brown infused at apex, V yellow basally
and brown apically, VI–VIII brown.
Forewings pale with dark venal setae. Head wider than long; three pairs of ocellar setae present, pair III longer than the distance
between external margins of hind ocelli, arising on
anterior margins of ocellar triangle; postocular setae pair I present, pair IV longer than the
distance between hind ocelli. Pronotum with five pairs of major setae; anteromarginal
setae slightly shorter than anteroangulars, one pair
of minor setae present medially between posteromarginal
submedian setae. Metanotum with
two pairs of setae at anterior margin, campaniform sensilla present.
Forewing with two complete rows of veinal
setae. Tergite VIII without marginal comb;
IX with median pair of dorsal setae stout and shorter than lateral pair.
Discussion
From the view point
of faunistic wealth of the country, the present
record on the occurrence of the two terebrantian thrips, C. punctipennis
and F. occidentalis in India adds a new
dimension. The first record of male
individuals of F. occidentalis, however, is
more significant in the present context by virtue of its effectiveness in
disseminating the tospovirus. Although existence of female individuals
of F. occidentalis has already been known from
Bangalore (Tyagi & Kumar 2015), it was earlier
thought that they were just stray individuals and not part of a thriving viable
population. But, with the
collection of both male and female in the present survey, it became unambiguous
that they represent a true population with the dominance of females. Nevertheless, the presence of a male
provokes more worry to the applied entomologists because males are known to be
more effective vectors of tospoviruses than females
(Riley et al. 2011).
Literature has unequivocally reflected
that F. occidentalis, the WFT is responsible
for transmission of as many as five species/strains of tospovirus
including Groundnut Bud Necrosis Virus (GBNV), the most important virus
affecting peanut, potato, tomato and soybean in parts of China, India, Iran,
Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The
annual loss due to GBNV was estimated to be over US $ 89 million in Asia (Reddy
et al. 1995). It was reported that
the Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV), transmitted by WFT caused the World wide
economic loss amounting to over US $ 1 billion during 1900s (Rugman Jones et al. 2010). Similarly, Watermelon Bud Necrosis Virus
(WBNV) has resulted in severe yield loss on various cucurbitaceous hosts in
India (Jain et al. 2007).
It is feasible that the WFT might have
established themselves in the hilly terrains of Ooty as the climatic conditions appear to be
congenial to maintain both the sexes in the same spot. If that habitat serves
as a reservoir, then it is possible for WFT to disperse to other parts of the
country along with the ornamentals, vegetables and fruits grown in and around Ooty. There
could be a possibility of posing threat to the potato cultivation in the Nilgiris by the GBNV vector, WFT. Moreover, the tourists from other parts
of the country take seedlings and other planting materials from the Niligiris for further propagation which
would inadvertently result in the dispersal of F. occidentalis
to other temperate regions of northern and southern India. Under such circumstances, it is
imperative for the country to have an effective quarantine mechanism to prevent
the spread of this notorious pest from the high mountain ranges of the Nilgiris.
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