Oval, barely 0.2 to 3 mm long, often with fringed wings folded like bird feathers: thrips (order Thysanopthera) number over 6,300 named species, some serious plant pests, others useful predators. Look at the very tip of the abdomen with a magnifying glass — tube or cone — and you already know which of the two sub-orders you are dealing with.
Thrips classification at a glance
Order
Thysanopthera
Sub-orders
Tubulifera & Terebrantia
Distribution
Worldwide
Number of species
6385 and counting
→ Tubulifera
3716 species
→ Terebrantia
2669 species
Biologically, thrips are divided into two large sub-orders based on the tip of their abdomen. These sub-orders are further divided into dozens of genera, each counting hundreds of species.
Tube-tip or cone-tip: telling the two sub-orders apart
Every one of the thousands of thrips species belongs to one of two sub-orders, and the difference is read at the very tip of the abdomen. Here is what separates them, point by point.
Tube-tip or cone-tip: telling the two sub-orders apart
Feature
Tubulifera (tube-tailed thrips)
Terebrantia (cone-tip thrips)
Tip of the abdomen
Last segment long and cylinder-shaped, like a tube
Last segment pointed and cone-shaped
Egg-laying organ
No jagged ovipositor
Saw-like ovipositor hidden inside the pointed tip
Where the eggs go
Out in the open, glued in bark crevasses, leaf joints, flower buds or debris
Wounded into the flesh of the plant, one or two at a time
Bristles
Stick out of the very end of the tip
Mostly on the next-to-last ring of the abdomen
Families
One only, Phlaeothripidae
Many families in the sub-order
Both sub-orders contain pest species and beneficial predatory species, so the tip shape tells you the group, not the verdict.
Two sub-orders in the Thrips order
Common traits thrips species share
The thousands of thrips species vary wildly in shape and size, but they all share common traits.
Oval body and six legs, like all insects
Shape is oval, and like all insects they have 6 legs.
Their mouthpieces are asymetrical: one side is much larger than the other. This is impossible to see without a powerful microscope, though.
For many species (but not the majority), a pair of fringed wings – fringed as in, made from tiny frills like a bird’s feather – is often seen folded along their backside.
They’re all tiny, between a fraction of an inch to at most 1/8th, or 0.2 to 3 mm, although a few rare species grow to nearly half an inch (15 mm).
All but a few species of thrips lay eggs. These are tiny, translucent-white and are round, bean-shaped or oval (like tiny grains of rice).
Much variation even within a thrips species
However, even within a single species individuals may vary greatly from one to the next. Two siblings might not be of the same color. Markings along the tiny body also are unique to each individual!
Moreover, sometimes generations are different simply based on when they emerged! For one type of thrips, the grass thrips (Anaphothrips obscurus), the first spring generations usually bear wings. However, later generations within the same year are almost entirely wingless!
This makes it particularly difficult to pinpoint which species exactly is infecting your plant.
Two sub-orders in the biological classification
The abdomen tip separates the two sub-orders
The two different sub-orders within the Thysanopthera order are Tubulifera and Terebrantia.
The very last segment of the abdomen at the tip of the thrips shows the main difference. You’ll need a magnifying glass to see this, usually:
Members of the Tubulifera sub-order have a last segment that is long and cylinder-shaped, like a tube (hence the name). This group is also called Phlaeothripidae, which is the only family that is part of this sub-order. They also go under the common name “tube-tailed thrips“.
Thrips of the Terebrantia sub-order have a pointed segment. A saw-like stinger called an ovipositor inside this pointed segment is how the female lays eggs inside plants. There are many families in this sub-order.
Each sub-order counts thousands of species. All types of thrips are found in each sub-order: pests and beneficial thrips, too.
Tubulifera
Tube-shaped tip, with bristles at the very end
These thrips have tube-shaped tips. A few bristles stick out of the very end.
Tubulifera eggs are out in the open
Tubulifera thrips don’t wound plants to lay eggs inside them. They lack the jagged ovipositor that makes it possible. Eggs are laid and glued:
in crevasses in bark
wedged at leaf joints
in folded flower buds
in curled-up leaves that have been used for feeding
There are usually only a handful of Tubulifera species commonly encountered as a pest by gardeners, horticulturists and farmers.
Cuban Laurel thrips – Gynaikothrips ficorum
Galling thrips – Gynaikothrips uzeli
Coffee curl thrips – Hoplandrothrips coffaea, H. marshall and H. bredoi
Lily thrips – Liothrips vaneeckei
However, on the bright side, many of these are predator thrips. They eat eggs, larvae and nymphs of other insects and pests!
Black hunter thrips – Leptothrips mali
Tubular black thrips – Haplothrips victoriensis
Terebrantia
Cone-shaped tip hides the drill-like ovipositor
The cone-shaped tip hides a drill-like organ inside: the ovipositor (see one in this article on thrips eggs).
There are bristles, too, but they mostly stick out of the next-to-last ring in the abdomen, not the very tip as in Tubulifera species (microscope needed for this observation).
Terebrantia eggs hidden inside plants
The saw-like ovipositor jags a wound into the flesh of a plant, in a soft spot. One or two eggs are laid inside, and then the mother moves to another nearby location.
You can spot these thrips egg-nests by looking for white dots on plants.
Stems of young wood, flower buds, leaf buds and leaf veins are good places to look for these white dots.
Development stages of Terebrantia thrips
Another characteristic is that members of this sub-order all go through two nymph instars and then two pupal instars as they grow.
Their development process goes as follows:
egg
first nymph instar
second nymph instar
first pupa instar (or prepupa)
second pupa instar
adult
Note that thrips feed only as nymphs and adults; not as eggs or pupa. More about the complete thrips lifecycle.
Main Terebrantia thrips species
Here are Terebrantia pest species commonly encountered by gardeners, horticulturists and farmers.
Sixspotted thrips (or six banded thrips) – Scolothrips sexmaculatus
Banded thrips – Franklinothrips species, especially Franklinothrips vespiformis, F. orizabensis and F. megalops
Aeolothrips (also called banded thrips or banded-wing thrips) – Aeolothrips species
Smart tip about thrips species
If you notice thrips on your plants, try to check which species it is. It might be beneficial thrips that are helping you control aphids, spider mites and other pest thrips!
Written by Gaspard Lorthiois | Loves helping out, especially when it comes to growing things. Worked in herbal medicine, runs a farm, and dabbles in tech. Master's degree and engineer.
