Record of Asprothrips navsariensis tyagi as a pest of Banana from Tamil Nadu with notes on other thrips infesting Banana

Abstract

Asprothrips navsariensis Tyagi (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), hitherto known only from Gujarat and Bogor (Indonesia), is reported as a pest of banana foliage from peninsular India (Tamil Nadu). Extensive fruit damage in banana by Helionothrips kadaliphilus (Ramakrishna Ayyar and Margabandhu), a common foliage feeder, is recorded for the first time. Brief notes on other economically important pest thrips on bananas and plantains in South India are provided with comments on the reliability of records of banana rust thrips from India.