THYSANOPTERA: Diversity and Interactions

Published literature on thrips has been dominated by descriptive taxonomy, pest control work, and generalized synecology. The lack of studies examining the detailed biology or autecology of any species limits our understanding of how thrips live and the processes underlying their diversification. Similarly, the phylogenetic inadequacy of thrips classification limits our ability to examine the evolution of biological traits. The extent to which our knowledge of the biology of thrips has increased in recent years is reviewed, such as the behavior of particular species and their interactions with other organisms, including host plant associations, pollination, predation, and natural enemies--factors involved in driving diversification within this order of opportunistic insects.