New insect species discovered in Seychelles

New insect species discovered in Seychelles

16-May-2014
A Norwegian insect expert has discovered a new species of thrips on Praslin. A diagram of the new thrips species
It was while visiting Seychelles in 2012 and on a trip to Praslin that Sverre Kobro found the thrips which, upon further examination in the laboratory back home, proved to be of a species completely new to science.

Thrips are small insects which are barely visible with the naked eyes. Although found in enormous quantities, they are usually barely noticeable, as they are only about one to two millimetres long and hide inside plants. Thrips are not commonly known but they are a group of insects that numbers around six thousand different species in total, and can be found all over the world.

According to an article in the Norwegian science and research website Science Nordic, the new species, called Urothrips kobroi, is an indication that the fungus-eating genus Urothrips, which is found across South Africa, India, Thailand and Australia was probably present in the supercontinent Gondwanaland millions of years ago and was separated by continental drift, leaving Urothrips kobroi to develop in isolation on the equatorial island archipelago. For Sverre Kobro, who works at Bioforsk Plant Health at the Norwegian Institute for Agricultural and Environmental Research, the discovery of a new species of thrips in the Seychelles was the product of his efforts to travel the world with his wife, not in search of the perfect beach or relaxation spot, but rather to collect and study different species of thrips.

An expert in identifying insects, Kobro first developed an affinity for thrips when he was called in by food safety experts to identify a dreaded species of thrips -- Thrips palmi -- known to cause considerable damage to food crops throughout Latin America, Africa, Australia and more recently in Europe.

http://www.nation.sc/article.html?id=241690