Expanding host range and geographical distribution of Thrips parvispinus (Karny): Onion as new host from Northern India

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-2956517/v1

Download PDF

Short Report

Expanding host range and geographical distribution of Thrips parvispinus (Karny): Onion as new host from Northern India

https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2956517/v1

This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License

Version 1

posted

You are reading this latest preprint version

The South East Asian thrips, Thrips parvispinus (Karny) (Thripidae: Thysanoptera) was witnessed for the first time infesting onion (Allium cepa) crop in Haryana, India. This invasive pest is a looming to agricultural crops in the country owing to expanding host range over the time. The occurrence of Thrips parvispinus on economically important vegetable crop like onion in India is a serious economic implication and is a source of concern for a quarantine. A regular monitoring of this invasive thrips is the need of an hour as it may become a greater nuisance in the future.

Thrips parvispinus

onion

invasive

Thrips Linnaeus is the largest genera of insect order Thysanoptera with 301 species recorded worldwide (http://thrips.info/wiki), of which 44 species are reported from India (Rachana and Varatharajan, 2017). The South-East Asian thrips, Thrips parvispinus (Karny) (Thysanoptera: Terebrantia: Thripidae) is a cosmopolitan species of quarantine importance and has been reported from Thailand to Australia (Mound and Collins, 2000). They are known to incite damage through rasping and sucking the sap from different plant parts with left mandible (Raghavendra et al., 2023). It is considered a destructive polyphagous pest causing significant damage to solanaceous crops in Indonesia (Johari, 2015). The expansion of international trade has led to rapid spread of Thrips parvispinus to South East Asian countries, Northern Australia and Solomon Island (Palmer, 1992), extending its area of distribution to China (Zhang et al., 2011), Phillipines (Reyes and Rillon, 1994), Taiwan (Mound and Masumoto, 2005) and now India as well (Tyagi et al., 2015). The present climate change scenario in the Indian subcontinent might facilitate the establishment and geographical expansion of exotic insect pests, particularly those from tropical climates. In India, Thrips parvispinus was first recorded on papaya (Tayagi et al., 2015), subsequently on other hosts (Rachana et al., 2022; Roselin et al., 2021; Nagaraju et al., 2021).

India is the second largest producer of onion in the world, next to China and ranks third in export next to Netherlands and Spain. The infestation of the emerging invasive pest, Thrips parvispinus on onion crop may pose a serious threat to Indian and global economy. It is therefore imperative to analyze the potential distribution and systematic monitoring of the pest across the Indian subcontinent.

Thrips infesting onion crop at fields of CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana (29⁰ 10’N latitude and 75⁰ 46’E longitude) during Rabi 2021-22 were collected by dislodging them from infested leaves over a white paper sheet. The specimens were transferred in vials containing collection fluid (nine parts of 10% alcohol + one-part glacial acetic acid + 1 ml Triton X-100 in 1000 ml of the mixture) using a fine camel brush (Bhatti, 1999). The thrips specimens were identified up to species level following standard taxonomic keys and photographs were captured using stereoscopic microscope (V20 Carl Zeiss, Germany). The specimens were also sent to Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata (West Bengal) and ICAR – National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources, Bengaluru (Karnataka) for confirmed identification. The nature of damage and symptomatology was studied by inoculating the onion plants (Hisar Onion 2) with Thrips parvispinus under protected conditions.

Extensive surveys were conducted during Rabi 2022-23 in major onion growing districts of Haryana viz., Panchkula, Ambala, Kurukshetra, Yamunanagar and Hisar for infestation of Thrips parvispinus. In each district, five villages from each tehsil were surveyed.

The morphological observations of thrips indicated the occurrence of two different species, Thrips tabaci (Fig. 1a) and Thrips parvispinus (Fig. 1b). Thrips parvispinus exhibited sexual dimorphism; females with brown head and prothorax, yellowish brown meso- and metathorax and dark abdomen while male were yellow coloured. ZSI, Kolkata (West Bengal) and NBAIR, Bengaluru (Karnataka) also confirmed identification with conclusive identity report as Thrips tabaci and Thrips parvispinus. Through surfing the literature, T. parvispinus infesting onion crop is considered to be first record.

Figure 2: Damage caused by Thrips parvispinus on onion crop

The nature of damage induced by Thrips parvispinus on onion was unveiled by inoculating the healthy plants. Thrips parvispinus caused scrapping of leaf surface, lead to decrease in chlorophyll content, thereby reduce the photosynthetic efficiency. Feeding led to development of small whitish spots scattered over the leaf surface (Fig. 2a), which later turned yellowish (Fig. 2b and 2c) and complete drying of leaf (Fig. 2d) was induced in case of severe injury. Infested leaves become curled and twisted (Fig. 2e).

The survey for infestation of T. parvispinus in major onion growing districts of Haryana (Table 1) indicated the maximum infestation in Yamunanagar district (ranging from 21–27 thrips/ plant in Radur, Jagadhari and Bilaspur) followed by Kuruskshetra (ranging from 13–21 thrips/ plant) while Hisar district presented lower infestation of the T. parvispinus (7–14 thrips/ plant).

Table 1

Prevalence of *Thrips parvispinus* in major onion growing districts of Haryana
District	Tehsil	Infestation level of T. parvispinus (thrips/ plant)
Panchkula	Panchkula	13–18
Panchkula	Kalka	12–14
Ambala	Ambala	11–16
	Ambala Cantt	12–15
	Saha	11–14
	Mullana	10–13
	Barara	14–19
	Shazadpur	12–14
Kurukshetra	Thanesar	13–16
	Ladwa	16–21
	Shahbad	18–21
	Pehowa	13–18
Yamunanagar	Jagadhari	22–27
	Radur	21–24
	Bilaspur	23–26
Hisar	Hisar	9–12
	Hansi	8–12
	Narnaund	7–10
	Barwala	11–14
	Bass	10–13
	Adampur	9–13

Thrips parvispinus (Karny), belonging to the “Thrips orientalis group” (Mound and Masumoto, 2005) is a pest of quarantine significance and is widely distributed across South East Asia. The invasive pest was witnessed infesting many agricultural crops in India (Tyagi et al., 2015; Roselin et al., 2021; Rachana et al., 2022; Basavaraj et al., 2022). The present study demarcate that onion is a new host Thrips parvispinus from Haryana, India. The damage incited by Thrips parvispinus on onion is similar symptoms recorded by Timmanna et al. (2022) on chilli. The observations on symptomatology also corroborate with those observed in South East Asian countries (Sartiami and Mound, 2013; Johari, 2015). The feeding injury incited by T. parvispinus further exacerbate the severity of onion purple blotch disease (Saini, 2022). Similarly, Lim (1989) recorded that T. parvispinus feeding injury attracted Cladosporium oxysporum, leading to bunchy top malformation in papaya in Malaysia. The sub-tropical weather of India is favourable to Thrips parvispinus adaptation (Timmanna et al., 2022). The spread of the pest within India may be attributed to unrestricted movement of agricultural commodities across the country. The high reproductive potential, aggressive feeding behaviour and wide host adaptability of Thrips parvispinus may be responsible for its establishment at newer places.

Author Contribution

Conceptualization: K.R.; Observations and data recording: S.S., A.S.; Photography: A.S.; Monitoring experiment: M.L; Taxonomic guidance: K.T. and R.R.R; Writing, review and editing manuscript: S.S., K.R., A.K.S. All the authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Ethics approval and consent to participate: Not applicable.

Consent for publication: Not applicable.

Conflict of interest: The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

Basavaraj, K., Sreenivas, A. G., Prasad, P. B., & Rachana, R. R. (2022). First report of invasive thrips, Thrips parvispinus (Karny) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) infesting chilli, Capsicum annuum in Kalaburagi, Karnataka, (India). Journal of Experimental Zoology India, 25, 191-194 DOI: https://connectjournals.com/03895.2022.25.191
Bhatti, J. S. (1999). Enigmatic complete anterior tentorium and tentorial body in adults of the Onion thrips, Thrips abaci (Thripidae), with review of the tentorium in the Order Terebrantia. Thrips No. 1: 15-30.
http://thrips.info/wiki Thrips Wiki - providing information on the World's
Johari, A. (2015). The diversity species of thrips sp. (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) in chili plantation (Capsicum annuum L.) in the region of Jambi. Indian Journal of Scientific Research and Technology, 3(1), 65-70.
Lim, W. H. (1989). Bunchy and malformed top of papaya cv. Eksotika caused by Thrips parvispinus and Cladosporium oxysporum. Mardi Research. Journal, 17, 200-207.
Mound L A, & Collins D W. (2000). A South East Asian pest species newly recorded from Europe: Thrips parvispinus (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), its confused identity and potential quarantine significance. European Journal of Entomology 97,197-200
Mound, L.A. and Masumoto, M. (2005). The genus Thrips (Thysanoptera, Thripidae) in Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand. Zootaxa, 1020(1), pp.1-64. DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1020.1.1
Nagaraju, D. K., Vivek Uppar., Ranjith, M., Sriharsha., Ramesh, G1., Verma O.P. and Prakash R. (2021). Occurrence of Thrips parvispinus (Karny) (Thripidae: Thysanoptera) in major chilli (Capsicum annum) growing areas of Karnataka. Insect Environment, 24 (4),523-532.
Palmer, J. M. (1992). Thrips (Thysanoptera) from Pakistan to the Pacific: a review. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Entomology Series, 61(1).
Rachana, R. R. & Varatharajan, R. (2017) Checklist of terebrantian thrips (Insecta: Thysanoptera) recorded from India. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 9 (1), 9748–9755. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.11609/jott.2785.8.7.8953-8969
Rachana, R. R., Roselin, P., Amutha, M., Sireesha, K., & Narasa Reddy, G. (2022). Invasive pest, Thrips parvispinus (Karny)(Thysanoptera: Thripidae) a looming threat to Indian agriculture. Current Science, 122(2), 211-213. DOI:10.18520/cs/v122/i2/211-213
Raghavendra, K. V., Ramesh, K. B., Rachana, R. R., Mahendra, C., Singh, S. K., & Chander, S. (2023). Genetic diversity analysis of severely infesting invasive thrips, Thrips parvispinus (Karny) in chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) in India. Phytoparasitica, 51(2), 227-239. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12600-023-01054-1
Reyes, C. P., & Rillon, G. S. (1994). Survey of the thrips fauna and their predators on irrigated, transplanted rice. Philippine Entomologist, 9(3), 268-285.
Roselin, P., Sharma, K., & Rachana, R. R. (2021). Diversity of floral thrips from Western Ghats of Karnataka. Indian Journal of Entomology, 83(3), 407-410. http://dx.doi.org/10.5958/0974-8172.2020.00192.3
Saini, S. (2022). Studies on integrated approaches for management of Onion purple blotch caused by Alternaria porri (Ellis.) Cif. M.Sc. thesis, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar (Haryana).
Sartiami, D., & Mound, L. A. (2013). Identification of the terebrantian thrips (Insecta, Thysanoptera) associated with cultivated plants in Java, Indonesia. ZooKeys, (306), 1.DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.306.5455
Timmanna, H., Prashantha, C., Shashank, P. R., Nigam, V. D., & Birla, N. (2022). Occurrence and spread of invasive thrips Thrips parvispinus (Karny) in north India. Indian Journal of Entomology, 85(1): 160-163. DOI: 10.55446/IJE.2022.987
Tyagi, K., Kumar, V., Singha, D., & Chakraborty, R. (2015). Morphological and DNA barcoding evidence for invasive pest thrips, Thrips parvispinus (Thripidae: Thysanoptera), newly recorded from India. Journal of Insect Science, 15(1), 105.DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jisesa/iev087
Zhang, H., Xie, Y., & Li, Z. (2011). Identification key to species of Thrips genus from China (Thysanoptera, Thripidae), with seven new records. Zootaxa, 2810, 37-46.

No competing interests reported.

Download PDF

Version 1

posted

You are reading this latest preprint version

Expanding host range and geographical distribution of Thrips parvispinus (Karny): Onion as new host from Northern India

Status:

Version 1

Abstract

Figures

Introduction

Materials and Methods

Results

Discussion

Declarations

References

Additional Declarations

Status:

Version 1