THE RED-BANDED THRIPS. 19 
This account of the history of the red-banded thrips takes up 
only the more important notices that this insect has received. For 
further information see the bibliography (p. 28) or the article by 
Urich 24 published in 1911. 
RECENT RECORDS. 
On March 28, 1900, specimens of the larva, pupa, and adult of this 
insect were received by this bureau from Mr. D. Morris, of Barbados 
Island. He stated that they were collected in Dominica on cacao. 
On October 5, 1900, another lot, from Grenada, British West Indies, 
was received from Mr. Morris. Mr. P. J. Wester, formerly of the 
Bureau of Plant Industry, during the winter of 1908 sent to the 
Bureau of Entomology, from Miami, Fla., several lots of mango leaves 
badly injured by Heliothrips rubrocinctus Giard and Heliothrips hxm- 
orrhoidalis Bouche, working together. He wrote that previous to 
that time they had not seemed to cause much damage. The writer, 
during January and February, 1909, found these two insects at 
Miami, Fla., working together in large numbers on the leaves of 
the mango and the avocado. Mr. Edward Simmonds, on Novem- 
ber 1, 1911, sent a number of mango leaves from Miami, Fla., that 
were quite badly infested. 
August 6, 1912, Mr. H. L. Sanford collected specimens of the 
adult, larva, and pupa, in the greenhouses of the Department of 
Agriculture, at Washington, D. C. The insects were seriously attack- 
ing mango plants received from the island of Mauritius. 
NATURE AND EXTENT OF INJURY. 
Injury by the red-banded thrips is similar to that of the greenhouse 
thrips (Heliothrips hsemorrhoidalis Bouche) a and of the bean thrips 
{Heliothrips fasciatus Pergande), 6 and is likewise caused by the man- 
ner in which these insects obtain their food. The present thrips is 
treated here as an enemy to the mango and avocado (alligator pear) 
only, as cacao is not at present of importance as a crop in this country. 
The adults and larvae feed together on the same foliage and injure 
this in the same way. The epidermis is first pierced by the sharp 
mouthparts and then the leaf tissue within is rasped or scraped out, 
leaving a minute spot where the chlorophyll or green content of the 
leaf has been removed. This spot becomes brown. These spots 
become very abundant and after a while run together, forming large 
brown patches near the main or side veins, the leaves later turning 
brown and drying up. In severe cases the entire leaf surface is 
« For description of injury by the greenhouse thrips see Bui. 64, Pt. VI, Bur. Ent., U. S. Dept. Agr., 
p. 44, 1909; also Cir. 151, Bur. Ent., U. S. Dept. Agr., 1912. 
b For description of injury by the bean thrips see Bui. 118, Bur. Ent., U. S. Dept. Agr., 1912. 
