Holopothrips tabebuia Cabrera & Segarra, 2008

Michel, Bruno & Etienne, Jean, 2020, The genus Holopothrips Hood, 1914 in Guadeloupe with descriptions of two new species (Thysanoptera, Phlaeothripidae), Zootaxa 4786 (2), pp. 254-260 : 260

Holopothrips tabebuia Cabrera & Segarra, 2008

This species was described from Puerto Rico breeding inside distorted leaves of Tabebuia heterophylla ( Bignoniaceae ). It is widespread in the Caribbean region and also reported to Florida. This thrips induce huge gall-like deformations on Tabebuia leaves, which become wrinkled and curled with a very hard epidermis. It was recorded from Guadeloupe and Martinique by Michel et al. (2008), and can be found in almost all the small surrounding islands, Marie-Galante, the Saintes archipelago, Les îles du nord, Saint Bartélémy, and Saint Martin. Holopothrips tabebuia has sharply bicoloured body, distinguishable from the H. inquilinus by the uniformly brown head, and the presence of only one pair of epimeral setae on pronotum.