We are pleased to announce a new article on Featured Creatures!

Take a sneak peek with this excerpt from the article: Franklinothrips vespiformis Crawford (Thysanoptera: Aeolothripidae) (Fig. 1) is a predatory thrips with a pantropical distribution. The distinctive red, humped-back larvae and fast-moving ant-like adults are predaceous on small arthropods. In addition to being easily mistaken for an ant, this beneficial thrips is unusual in that it constructs a silken cocoon within which it pupates. Males of this species are rare.

Figure 1. Female vespiform thrips showing constricted waist and white band. Photograph by Runqian Mao, University of Florida.

Available at: http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/BENEFICIAL/vespiform_thrips.htm

Authors: Runqian Mao, Yingfang Xiao, and Steven P. Arthurs, Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida

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