Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood, 1919 (ITIS)
Chilli thrips, yellow tea thrips, castor thrips, Assam thrips, strawberry thrips, oriental tea thrips
Southeast Asia (Kumar et al. 2014)
First discovered in Hawaii in 1987 (Seal et al. 2010); first established population discovered in Florida in 2005 (Kumar et al. 2014)
Possibly through infested commodity shipments (Nietschke et al. 2008)
Attacks and causes significant damage to over 100 vegetable, ornamental, and fruit crops, particularly peppers, eggplant, and tomatoes (Nietschke et al. 2008)
![Chilli Thrips](/sites/default/files/styles/extra_large/public/media/image/chilli-thrips-5207029.jpg?itok=Y--XWFYv)
Chilli Thrips, adult (dorsal view of spread Scirtothrips dorsalis female removed from Capsicum chinense floating in 70% etOH)
Photo by Andrew Derksen; University of Florida
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The section below contains highly relevant resources for this species, organized by source.
Partnership
State and Local Government
Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Scirtothrips dorsalis. [Accessed Aug 20, 2023].
Kumar, V., G. Kakkar, D.R. Seal, C.L. McKenzie, J. Colee, and L.S. Osborne. 2014. Temporal and spatial distribution of an invasive thrips species Scirtothrips dorsalis (Thysanoptera: Thripidae). Crop Protection 55:80-90.
Nietschke, B.S., D.M. Borchert, R.D. Mabery, and M.A. Ciomperlik. 2008. Climatological potential for Scirtothrips dorsalis (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) establishment in the United States [PDF, 450 KB]. Florida Entomologist 91(1):79-86.
Seal, D.R., W. Klassen, and V. Kumar. 2010. Biological parameters of Scirtothrips dorsalis (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) on selected hosts. Environmental Entomology 39(5):1389-1398.