Presence of Thysanoptera Species in the Urban Green Spaces of Iran: New Records Along with Illustrated Type Specimens

Abstract

We present a list of Thysanoptera species found in the Mashhad metropolitan region (north-east of Iran). A total of 24 sampling sites were set up on Pinus mugo Turra and Platycladus orientalis (L.), two ornamental trees important commonly found in urban areas, to better understand the fauna and distribution of thrips populations. Thysanoptera fauna consists of 13 species in eight genera, two subfamilies and three families, of which three have never been recorded in Razavi Khorasan province. In terms of species, the highest number of species belonged to the family Thripidae. The present study tentatively suggested that P. mugo and P. orientalis attract most species of adult thrips (Thysanoptera) but do not support reproduction. We examined and illustrated the types of eleven of currently accepted synonyms of Haplothrips reuteri (Karny, 1907), H. subtilissimus (Haliday, 1852), Aptinothrips rufus (Haliday, 1836), Chirothrips africanus Priesner, 1932, C. manicatus (Haliday, 1836), Thrips atratus Haliday, 1836, and T. vulgatissimus Haliday, 1836, together with information on distributions and diagnosis that are useful for recognising each species. The purpose of this study is to fill in the knowledge gaps regarding the distribution of Thysanoptera in the diverse urban green spaces (UGSs).