The first record of subtropical insects (Thysanoptera) in central Europe: long‐distance transport of airborne thrips, applying three‐dimensional backward trajectories

Abstract

1 The present study reports the first occurrence and flight period of three species, namely Scolothrips tenuipennis zur Strassen 1965, Frankliniella schultzei Trybom, 1910 and Zurstrassenia figuratus zur Strassen, 1968, in Hungary. A fourth, undescribed species belonging to the genus Caliothrips was also captured. 2 The distribution area of these species is North Africa and it is hypothesized that they are transported to Hungary via long-distance air currents. 3 Data for a suction trap are examined in South-East Hungary, in the 3-year period 2002-2004 from May to September. A three-dimensional back-trajectory analysis based on the Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) transport and dispersion model was performed for the observation days to determine the origin and path of air masses and evaluate of the possibility of long-distance transport of thrips species. 4 Surprisingly, the analysis showed that only a few percent of the back trajectories originated or passed over North Africa. The results suggest that the captured thrips species could survive long-distance transport at low-level trajectories and establish new populations in Western Europe, the eastern part of Europe and Northern Central Europe, which together serve as source areas for the long-range transport of thrips to the target station.

An updated checklist of thrips from Slovakia with emphasis on economic species

“…may carry a heavy introduction and invasion potential (Morse & Hoddle 2006;Reynaud et al 2008;Reynaud 2010;Diaz-Montano et al 2011;Masarovič et al , 2017bFedor et al 2018) with well-developed mechanisms for their successful dispersion. According to the above-mentioned facts on the natural and human-induced dispersion mechanisms, together with recent knowledge on European alien thrips fauna (Vierbergen 1999(Vierbergen , 2001Reynaud et al 2008;Šimala & Masten Milek 2008;Goldarazena 2011;Pizzol et al 2014;Orosz et al 2017;Muntyan et al 2018;Makra et al 2018), a wide variety of new exotic economic species (e.g., Thrips hawaiiensis, Frankliniella schultzei or Scirtothrips spp.) may undisputedly occur in Slovakia over the next couple of years.…”

Biodiversity in and around Greenhouses: Benefits and Potential Risks for Pest Management

“…The contribution of the surrounding vegetation to this influx might be limited for cases of pests that are able to travel long distances on air currents, and this is the case for several small insect and mite pests. Thrips, for example, can travel distances of even hundreds of kilometres [26]. Most species of thrips outside greenhouses fly only during a few weeks per year, which can result in spectacular mass flights [27].…”

Thrips on honey bees: more than hitchhikers?

“…Adult thrips can readily move over long distances, often assisted by wind currents (Makra et al. 2017). So why should thrips use bees for dispersal?…”