A south east Asian pest species newly recorded from Europe: Thrips parvispinus (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), its confused identity and potential quarantine significance

The south east Asian pest thrips, Thrips parvispinus is recorded breeding in Europe for the first time, damaging Gardenia plants in Greece. Morphological variation in this species from various Asian countries is recorded and compared to the type specimens. As a result Isoneurothrips jenseni Karny, 1925 and Thrips (Isoneurothrips) taiwanus Takahashi, 1936 are placed as synonyms of Thrips parvispinus (Karny, 1922). In contrast, Thrips compressicornis (Sakimura), a species from the Marquesa Islands of the Pacific that has previously been associated with these taxa, represents a very different species. The quarantine significance of T. parvispinus is emphasized.