Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Thrips Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Subclass: Pterygota Infraclass: Neoptera Superorder: Hemipterodea Order: Thysanoptera Families Suborder Terebrantia    Merothripidae    Uzelothripidae    Aeolothripidae    Adeheterothripidae    Heterothripidae    Thripidae    Fauriellidae Suborder Tubulifera    Phlaeothripidae Thrips (Thysanoptera) are tiny, slender insects with fringed wings (thus the scientific name, from the Greek thysanos (fringe) + pteron (wing)). Other common names include Thunderflies or Thunder bugs. Thrip species feed on a large variety of sources both plant and animal by puncturing them and sucking up the contents. A large number of thrip species are considered pests, because they feed on plants with commercial value. Some species of thrips feed on other insects or mites and are considered beneficial, while some feed on fungal spores or pollen. Thrips are generally tiny (1 mm long or less) and are not good flyers - though they can be carried long distances by the wind. In the right conditions many species can explode in population and swarm everywhere, making them an irritant to humans. External links University of California Pest Management Guidelines for Thrips This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.