The suborder Tubulifera includes the thrips family,
Phlaeothripidae. These are fairly common thrips, and are included
here because they occasionally inhabit vegetable blooms or foliage.
Most species in this family are
physically larger and sootier than the species of the families
in the suborder Terebrantia. One Australian species, Idolothrips
marginatus, is 10-14 mm in length.
The tubulifera feed on a wide range of hosts.
Many feed on fungal spores in dead
foliage, or in leaf litter, while other are predaceous on mites
and scale insects. Among the predators,
one species called the black hunter, Leptothrips mali
Fitch, is fairly common in North America, and may provide an economically
important level of mite control. Another predator, Aleurothrips
fasciapennis (Franklin), feeds on whiteflies and is common
in Florida (Stannard 1968, Palmer et al. 1989).Tubulifera
Distribution
Description
Species in the Tubulifera tend to have slender, dark-brown to
black bodies. The head shape is variable, but is often elongated.
The most distinctive feature of this group of thrips if the ovipositor.
The Tubulifera lack the saw-like ovipositor
found in other thrips families. Instead, they have the last abdominal
segment elongated into a tube.
Thus, the shape of the terminal abdominal segments is cylindrical,
rather than the tapered shape of the other thrips described in
this knowledgebase. Other characteristics of the head and thorax
are very variable, and will not be discussed here.
Host Range and Economic Importance
A few species in this family are plant feeders and may be of economic
importance. The lily bulb thrips, Liothrips vaneeckei
Priesner, is about 2 mm long, feeds on lilies and damages the
bulbs (Stannard 1968, Bailey 1939). Other species are best known
for tropical areas, where they cause leaf galling and distortion
in such crops as figs and cacao (Palmer et al. 1989).