the.com/thrips
tiny fringe-winged menaces that turn your favorite plants into stippled silver disappointment
means Thrips are minute, slender insects with fringed wings that feed on plants by puncturing cells and sucking out the contents, leaving telltale silvery scarring on leaves and flowers.
from From Greek 'thrips,' meaning 'woodworm' — the ancient Greeks used it for tiny insects boring into wood. English borrowed it whole as a scientific name, and here's the quirk worth knowing: 'thrips' is both singular and plural, like 'sheep' or 'species,' so one bug is a thrips, not a thrip. The word's Greek origin is solid; the irritating grammar is all ours.
- same word
- thrips is both singular and plural, never thrip
- size
- most are under one millimeter long
- reproduction
- females can breed without any males
- flight
- wings rimmed with hairs, not solid membrane
- diet
- they puncture cells and slurp the contents
western flower thrips — frankliniella occidentalis, invasive pest causing $1 billion+ annual crop damage globally
gladiolus thrips — thrips simplex, major pest of gladiolus and onion crops in north america and europe
tomato spotted wilt virus — spread by thrips, causes severe damage to tomatoes, peppers, and peanuts worldwide since 1919