Thrips Fauna in citrus orchard in Tunisia: an up-to-date

Thrips species that damage citrus are very little known in Tunisia. As a first step to establish an IPM strategy against thrips in citrus orchards, an inventory of species was carried out from Navel oranges trees and herbaceous plants in the vicinity. The status of each species was determined and the relationship between thrips damaging citrus, predaceous thrips and both agroecosystem were investigated. Samples of thrips were collected from orange trees, herbaceous plants and soil under canopy. A total of twenty-one thrips species were collected with 6 new findings. To help identification of these species likely to be found in Tunisia, an easy-touse dichotomous key of all recorded species was designed. The most abundant species in navel oranges trees were Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande), Thrips major Uzel and Pezothrips kellyanus Bagnall. Six species among the total identified were predators. The thrips fauna living in citrus groves between citrus and weeds is rich, but not all species have the same economic importance for citrus. Here, F. occidentalis, P. kellyanus and T. major are the major species at least regarding their abundance. Herbaceous plants in citrus orchards may play a key role in maintaining these species and also predaceous ones providing food when the susceptible citrus organs are not available. The data obtained are critical for biological conservation strategies.