A qualitative and quantitative study of thrips (Thysanoptera) on alfalfa and records of thrips species on cultivated and wild Medicago species of Greece

Abstract

AbstractFoliage and litter samples of twelve Medicago species (medics) (Fabaceae) were collected for the study of Thysanoptera from mainland and insular Greece between 2007-2013. The species composition, population dynamics and spatial distribution of thrips were also evaluated based on two similarly managed experimental plots, except the number of cuttings, within an alfalfa hay field in Kopais Valley (Central Greece) between 2007-2008. Nine thrips species were recorded from nine medics, two of which (Pseudodendrothrips mori and Sericothrips bicornis) are new to the Greek fauna. Eight species of Thysanoptera were recorded on alfalfa and five species in the rest of the medics, among which Medicago strasseri is an endemic shrub of Crete. Data regarding the quantitative part of the study demonstrated that Frankliniella occidentalis, which was the most abundant thrips species in both plots, presented a seasonal pattern of population fluctuation and also tended to aggregate. The mean population density of this species significantly differed between the above-mentioned plots, but no such a difference was estimated for the larvae of Thripidae.