Cuban Laurel Thrips vs Arctic Thrips

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Cuban Laurel Thrips Arctic Thrips
Scientific Name Gynaikothrips ficorum Aptinothrips rufus
Order Thysanoptera Thysanoptera
Family Phlaeothripidae Thripidae
Size 2.5-3.0 mm 0.5-1.5 mm
Habitat Woodlands Tundra & Arctic
Diet Herbivores Sap Feeders
Regions Asia, North America, South America, Oceania Arctic and subarctic worldwide, Scandinavia, Iceland, Greenland, northern Canada
Conservation Not Evaluated Least Concern

Cuban Laurel Thrips

A large dark thrips that causes leaf rolling on Ficus species. Colonies live inside the rolled leaves they create.

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Did You Know?

Entire colonies of hundreds of individuals live communally inside a single rolled fig leaf.

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.