Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande)

Matsunaga, Janis N., Howarth, Francis G. & Kumashiro, Bernarr R., 2019, New State Records and Additions to the Alien Terrestrial Arthropod Fauna in the Hawaiian Islands, Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society 51 (1), pp. 1-71 : 15

Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande)

New strain record “invasive greenhouse/glasshouse strain” Two farms on Hawaii island reported extremely heavy damage and high losses by thrips feeding to various plants and flowers, including jade vine, crown flower, chrysanthemum, and gerbera daisies in the summer of 2010. According to the growers, these thrips were exhibiting atypical pesticide resistance. Upon initial examination, these thrips appeared to have minute morphological differences from than typical F. occidentalis in Hawaii, and subsequently specimens were forwarded to USDA-ARS-SEL for identification assistance.

Steve Nakahara identified the specimens as mostly F. occidentalis , with some individuals exhibiting slight differences and informed us of a study by Rugman-Jones et al. (2010) indicating that Western flower thrips, F. occidentalis , is a complex of two cryptic species (western flower thripsL and western flower thripsG) needing further study and species name revisions. Through nuclear-mitochondrial barcoding, the authors discovered two distinct genetic entities, morphologically similar, and sometimes found on the same plants. Additional specimens from these collections were forwarded to authors Paul Rugman-Jones and Mark Hoddle for DNA analysis and subsequently all returned with as Frankliniella occidentalis , the invasive greenhouse/glasshouse strain (western flower thripsG). Frankliniella occidentalis has been recorded in Hawaii since 1966, however, this is the first record of the invasive greenhouse/glasshouse strain.

Collection records: HAWAII, Panaewa Ag Lots, 5.V.2010, ex. Calotropis gigantea flowers, coll. S. Cabral; Panaewa, 3.VI.2010, ex. Chrysanthemum flowers, coll. S. Cabral; Panaewa Ag Lots, 4.VI.2010, ex. Gerbera flowers, coll. S. Cabral. All identified as Frankliniella occidentalis and F. prob. occidentalis by S. Nakahara, 28.IX.2010 (morphological identification).