thrips
thrips,
minute, agile insects of the order Thysanoptera. Thrips have piercing-and-sucking mouthparts and cup-shaped feet from which bladderlike adhesive organs may be extended. Some species are wingless, but many have four narrow, featherlike wings fringed with hairs. Metamorphosismetamorphosis[Gr.,=transformation], in zoology, term used to describe a form of development from egg to adult in which there is a series of distinct stages. Many insects, amphibians, mollusks, crustaceans, and fishes undergo metamorphosis, which may involve a change in habitat,
..... Click the link for more information. is gradual, and some thrips frequently reproduce by parthenogenesisparthenogenesis
[Gr.,=virgin birth], in biology, a form of reproduction in which the ovum develops into a new individual without fertilization. Natural parthenogenesis has been observed in many lower animals (it is characteristic of the rotifers), especially insects, e.g.
..... Click the link for more information. . A few species prey on mites and small insects; others, e.g., the onion, pear, greenhouse, and grass thrips, feed on the foliage and flowers of plants to which they may transmit virus diseases. Thrips are classified in the phylum ArthropodaArthropoda
[Gr.,=jointed feet], largest and most diverse animal phylum. The arthropods include crustaceans, insects, centipedes, millipedes, spiders, scorpions, and the extinct trilobites.
..... Click the link for more information. , class Insecta, order Thysanoptera.