Frigate Island Giant Tenebrionid Beetle vs Cuban Laurel Thrips

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Frigate Island Giant Tenebrionid Beetle Cuban Laurel Thrips
Scientific Name Polposipus herculeanus Gynaikothrips ficorum
Order Coleoptera Thysanoptera
Family Tenebrionidae Phlaeothripidae
Size 2-3.5 cm 2.5-3.0 mm
Habitat Woodlands Woodlands
Diet Wood Feeders Herbivores
Regions Seychelles Asia, North America, South America, Oceania
Conservation Critically Endangered Not Evaluated

Frigate Island Giant Tenebrionid Beetle

A large flightless darkling beetle endemic to Frigate Island in the Seychelles. It shelters under bark and in dead wood during the day.

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Did You Know?

Its entire wild population is restricted to a single island less than 2 square kilometers in size.

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.