Yellow thrips - Frankliniella

Moved

Moved from Thrips.
Right on Chris! See comment here.

… Charley Eiseman, 26 November, 2013 - 6:31pm

should be Frankliniella sp.

In Florida it could be Frankliniella bispinosa, the "florida flower thrips" which is known to occur on oaks, and it seems to match all diagnostic characters for that species, but I think a good shot of the pronotum setae would be needed to be sure. But even then, there are so many species in this genus and given that the key I usually use covers only western species, I think it would be tough to make that call regardless.

References:
Fact sheet: Florida Flower Thrips
Description of genus

Disclaimer: I'm no expert, just a guy that has been independently studying thrips for the the last few years or so primarily due to the shortage of thysanoptera experts on BugGuide.

… Chris Mallory, 13 November, 2013 - 5:33pm

Interesting, Chris

Knowing that, I'll be more diligent in shooting them. I ran into four of them in two different colors on a single, small flower at Shipley Nature Center, Huntington Beach.

… Ron Hemberger, 13 November, 2013 - 9:32pm

They really are quite fascinating little things

I know I always used to overlook them because many the smaller ones all looked the same to me (plus their small size make them quite difficult to shoot), that and the fact that there weren't many on BugGuide to compare to. But as it turns out there are quite a lot of species! In our area I think I've photographed about 10-12 species so far and that's really just the tip of the iceberg. I'd always be happy to take a look at any thrips you encounter, of course with the disclaimer that it's a group I'm still learning so I make no promises as to be able to ID everything ;)

… Chris Mallory, 13 November, 2013 - 9:48pm

Why thanks, Chris.

I may have a dark one to post from the other day. Will check.

… Ron Hemberger, 13 November, 2013 - 9:51pm

Nice shot - these are really tough!

I never noticed the yellow/orange ones until yesterday when I inadvertently photographed one. I felt bad it wasn't good enough to post, as my curiosity had been piqued. Charley, I'll eagerly watch your posts.

… Ron Hemberger, 13 November, 2013 - 1:35pm