The Aeolothripidae are a family of

thrips Thrips (order Thysanoptera) are minute (mostly long or less), slender insects with fringed wings and unique asymmetrical mouthparts. Different thrips species feed mostly on plants by puncturing and sucking up the contents, although a few are ...

. 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 regi ...

region, although several occur in the drier parts of the subtropics, including dozens in Australia. Adults and larvae are usually found in flowers, but they

pupa A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''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 ...

te on the ground. While they normally prey on other

arthropods Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and cuticle made of chitin, oft ...

, many feed also on flowers.Mound, L.A. (1977). A new genus of Aeolothripidae (Thysanoptera) from New Zealand and New Caledonia. ''New Zealand Journal of Zoology 4:149-152
PDF
(''Desmidothrips'') 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 tha ...

predators of

mite Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods). Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari, but genetic analysis does not show clear evid ...

s. Those that live on flowers are normally

facultative {{wiktionary, facultative Facultative means "optional" or "discretionary" (antonym '' obligate''), used mainly in biology in phrases such as: * Facultative (FAC), facultative wetland (FACW), or facultative upland (FACU): wetland indicator statuses ...

predators. '' A. intermedius'' requires floral proteins in its diet in addition to its regular prey of thrips larvae to breed successfully. '' Franklinothrips'' is a

pantropical A pantropical ("all tropics") distribution is one which covers tropical regions of both hemispheres. Examples of species include caecilians, modern sirenians and the plant genera ''Acacia'' and '' Bacopa''. '' Neotropical'' is a zoogeographic t ...

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, Australia) * '' 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,

) * '' 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