Arctic Thrips vs Acacia Thrips

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Arctic Thrips Acacia Thrips
Scientific Name Aptinothrips rufus Kladothrips waterhousei
Order Thysanoptera Thysanoptera
Family Thripidae Phlaeothripidae
Size 0.5-1.5 mm 1.5-2.5 mm
Habitat Tundra & Arctic Woodlands
Diet Sap Feeders Gall Makers
Regions Arctic and subarctic worldwide, Scandinavia, Iceland, Greenland, northern Canada Oceania
Conservation Least Concern Not Evaluated

Arctic Thrips

A tiny, wingless thrips that feeds on grasses in Arctic and subarctic habitats. Its brown body is barely visible without magnification. Populations reproduce parthenogenetically in the Arctic where males are absent.

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Did You Know?

This thrips can reproduce without males through parthenogenesis, a useful adaptation in Arctic habitats where finding a mate would be difficult.

Acacia Thrips

An Australian gall-inducing thrips that creates enclosed galls on Acacia phyllodes. It exhibits a soldier caste that defends the gall.

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Did You Know?

This thrips has evolved a soldier caste with enlarged forelegs, making it one of the few eusocial insect lineages outside Hymenoptera.