The Aeolothripidae are a family of

thrips Thrips (Order (biology) , order Thysanoptera) are minute (mostly long or less), slender insects with fringed wings and unique asymmetrical mouthparts. Entomologists have species description , described approximately 7,700 species. They fly on ...

. They are particularly common in the

holarctic The Holarctic realm is a biogeographic realm that comprises the majority of habitats found throughout the continents in the Northern Hemisphere. It corresponds to the floristic Boreal Kingdom. It includes both the Nearctic zoogeographical reg ...

region, although several occur in the drier parts of the subtropics, including dozens in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Adults and larvae are usually found in flowers, but they

pupa A pupa (; : pupae) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages th ...

te on the ground. While they normally prey on other

arthropods Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often Mineralization (biology), mineralised with calcium carbonate, a body with differentiated (Metam ...

, many feed also on flowers. Species of the genus ''Aeolothrips'', which contains about half of all species in this family, mostly live on flowers, although a few species live at ground level as

obligate {{wiktionary, obligate As an adjective, obligate means "by necessity" (antonym '' facultative'') and is used mainly in biology in phrases such as: * Obligate aerobe, an organism that cannot survive without oxygen * Obligate anaerobe, an organism ...

predators of

mite Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods) of two large orders, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari. However, most recent genetic analyses do not recover the two as eac ...

s. Those that live on flowers are normally facultative predators. '' Aeolothrips intermedius'' requires floral proteins in its diet in addition to its regular prey of thrips larvae to breed successfully. '' Franklinothrips'' is a pantropical genus of ant-mimicking predators.

Genera

* '' Aduncothrips'' Ananthakrishnan, 1963 (one species, ''A. asiaticus'') * '' Aeolothrips'' Haliday, 1836 (95 species,

) * '' Allelothrips'' Bagnall, 1932 (seven species) * '' Andrewarthaia'' Mound, 1967 (one species, ''A. kellyana'') * '' Audiothrips'' Moulton, 1930 (two species) * '' Corynothripoides'' Bagnall, 1926 (1 species, ''C. marginipennis'') * †'' Cretothrips'' Grimaldi, 2004 (one fossil species, ''C. antiquus'') * '' Cycadothrips'' Mound, 1991 (three species) * '' Dactuliothrips'' Moulton, 1931 (six species) * '' Desmidothrips'' Mound, 1977 (two species) * '' Desmothrips'' Hood, 1915 (14 species,

) * '' Erythridothrips'' Mound & Marullo, 1993 (one species, ''E. cubilis'') * '' Erythrothrips'' Moulton, 1911 (12 species, western North and South America) * '' Euceratothrips'' Hood, 1936 (one species, ''E. marginipennis'') * '' Franklinothrips'' Back, 1912 (14 species, pantropical) * '' Gelothrips'' Bhatti, 1967 (three species) * '' Indothrips'' Bhatti, 1967 (one species, ''I. bhushani'') * '' Lamprothrips'' Moulton, 1935 (one species, ''L. miltoni'') * †'' Liassothrips'' Priesner, 1949 (one fossil species, ''L. crassipes'') * †'' Lithadothrips'' Scudder, 1875 (one fossil species, ''L. vetustus'') * '' Mymarothrips'' Bagnall, 1928 (three species) * '' Orothrips'' Moulton, 1907 (three species) * †'' Palaeothrips'' Scudder, 1875 (one fossil species, ''P. fossilis'') * †'' Permothrips'' Martynov, 1935 (one fossil species, ''P. longipennis'') * '' Rhipidothripiella'' Bagnall, 1932 (one species, ''R. turneri'') * '' Rhipidothripoides'' Bagnall, 1923 (two species) * '' Rhipidothrips'' Uzel, 1895 (six species) * '' Stomatothrips'' Hood, 1912 (eight species) * '' Streothrips'' Bhatti, 1971 (two species)

References

Thrips of the World Checklist: Family Aeolothripidae
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1949528 Terebrantia Insect families