Pest thrips in Iran: An introduction
Minaei K, Azemayeshfard P
Plant Protection Department, College of Agriculture, Tehran University, Karaj-Iran.
Correspondence: kminaei@ut.ac.ir
About 161 thrips species from 5 families and 60 genera have been recorded in Iran. However information related to the species composition of thrips populations and the significance of species as potential phytophages or carnivores has been given less attention, and much of the published data on host plant ranges of thrips is inaccurate in our country. At present, eight species are considered to damage cultivated plants in Iran: Anaphothrips obscurus (M¨¹ller), Drepanothrips reuteri Uzel, Haplothrips tritici (Kurdjumov), Pseudodendrothrips mori (Niwa), Retithrips syriacus (Mayet), Rubiothrips vitis (Priesner), Thrips flavus Schrank and T. tabaci Lindeman. Furthermore, there are some superficial reports on thrips pests. Thrips tabaci is the most damaging insect pest of onions in Iran. This species and wheat thrips (Haplothrips tritici) are the two that get most attention from Iranian entomologists due to their economic importance. The presence of the introduced thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) has been confirmed but there is no information on its pest status and distribution. Four known vector species of Tospoviruses are recorded in Iran: Frankliniella intonsa, F. occidentalis, F. schultzei, and Thrips tabaci.Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) has been recorded in Iran, and transmission of cineraria (Senecio sp.) isolate of TSWV has been confirmed by Thrips tabaci. Recently a new Tospovirus species infecting tomato namely Tomato fruit yellow ring virus has been recorded in Iran. (Bhatii JS, et al.. 2003. Proc. Natnl. Symp. Frontier Areas Ent. Res., Pp. 668¨C669; Ghotbi T et al. 2005. Plant Disease 89: 425¨C429).
