Poinsettia Thrips, Impatiens Thrips (suggested common names) Echinothrips americanus Morgan (Insecta: Thysanoptera: Thripidae)

Echinothrips americanus Morgan is an important greenhouse foliage pest of vegetable and ornamental plants (Figure 1). This pest is polyphagous, reported from 48 plant families worldwide. The preferred hosts of Echinothrips americanus belong to the Araceae and Balsaminaceae plant families (CABI/EPPO 2014). This pest is native to eastern North America (Stannard 1968) and was first reported in 1984 on poinsettia, Euphorbia pulcherrima (Euphorbiaceae), in Georgia (Oetting 1987). Other important greenhouse crops damaged by this pest include Impatiens spp. (Balsaminaceae), gerbera, rose, sweet pepper, cucumber and eggplant (Vierbergen et al. 2006). On EDIS: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in1246 On Featured Creatures: http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/ORN/THRIPS/Echinothrips_americanus.html