After the first record of Microcephalothrips abdominalis (Crawford) in Slovenia: presentation of the species and evaluation of its potential economic importance

Abstract

In August 2001 Microcephalothrips abdominalis (Crawford) was first recorded in Slovenia. The large numbers of imagoes were found in the flowers of whiteflowering dahlia (Dahlia spp.) in vicinity of Nova Gorica. The plants were grown outdoors, so it can be assumed, that introduction of the species took place some time ago and it was not detected only because of inadequate monitoring. Among European states where this species appear, the climate in Slovenia is most severe. Most of the thrips hosts come from the Asteraceae family, but composite thrips have economic significance only as a vector of tobacco streak virus, which belongs to Ilarvirus group. Virus infects not only the composite plants, but also many other hosts and is also transmitted by some other thrips, like Thrips tabaci Lindeman. This article presents the species, describes its systematic classification, geographical distribution, hosts, bionomics of the thrips and evaluates its potential direct and indirect damage on cultivated plants.