New information on the thrips vectors of tomato spotted wilt virus in groundnut crops in India

The thrips Frankliniella schultzei was previously reported as the main vector of tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) on groundnut in India. However, it was discovered that specimens believed to be F. schultzei from the ICRISAT slide collection were in fact Thrips palmi, a vector of the disease in Japan. An examination of thrips in the ICRISAT slide collection revealed that Scirtothrips dorsalis, S. oligochaetus, F. schultzei and T. palmi had been present on the ICRISAT farm since 1980. Field studies conducted near Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, and Raichur, Karnataka, during February 1989 revealed that adults of S. dorsalis and S. oligochaetus were present in the leaf terminals, on old leaflets and in the flowers of groundnuts, while larvae were concentrated between the folded terminal leaflets. F. schultzei was present in the flowers and T. palmi in the terminal leaf buds. S. dorsalis was the most abundant species while S. oligochaetus was comparatively rare; F. schultzei and T. palmi had an irregular distribution. These species (and Megalurothrips usitatus) were used to test individuals for the presence of TSWV using dot immunobinding assay. T. palmi was positive for the virus, but viral antigens were not detected in M. usitatus and S. oligochaetus. Results with S. dorsalis and F. schultzei were inconclusive because of nonspecific reactions

J M Palmer, D V R Reddy, J A Wightman, G V R Rao, 'New information on the thrips vectors of tomato spotted wilt virus in groundnut crops in India', International Arachis Newsletter, vol. 7, pp.24-25, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, 2013