Transient composition of the thrips species (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) infesting mulberry in southern India: first report of two, including the dominating invasive pest Thrips parvispinus

Abstract

Abstract Alerted by the steady upsurge of thrips infestation that led to drastic leaf-yield losses in mulberry, we investigated the composition of thrips species damaging the crop in the south Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu from 2017 to 2023. The 5 species recorded included 3 previously recognized mulberry pests—Bathrips melanicornis, Pseudodendrothrips darci, and Scirtothrips dorsalis—and 2 newly encountered pests, namely Thrips palmi and Thrips parvispinus. At Handenahalli village in Anekal taluk of Bengaluru Urban district in Karnataka, where multiple thrips species simultaneously infested mulberry, the typical downward curling of leaves was ascribed to T. parvispinus. This was in contrast to the upward curling caused by the sole infestation of P. darci, the most common species infesting mulberry across the 3 states. Diagnostic characters of all the reported species are presented here along with the identification keys and photomicrographs. Thrips parvispinus as a new pest of mulberry warrants special attention given the economic loss caused by this highly polyphagous invasive species in chili in southern India during the latter half of 2021. Its presence in the transient composition of mulberry-infesting thrips species signals the possibility of it becoming a regular pest in the future with serious repercussions for the moriculture and sericulture sectors.