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How to identify it
- Adult females look like small ants: 2.5 to 3.0 mm long, brown to black, with long legs and a pinched waist set off by white bands at the base of the abdomen. The wings are banded black and white.[1][3]
- The antennae have nine segments, the first three yellow. Males are very rare; they are smaller, less ant-like and have paler wings.[1]
- Larvae start pale yellow and quickly develop red bands; older larvae are strongly banded red, with a red head and red-banded legs, and have a humped back.[1]
- Mature larvae spin white, oval silken cocoons about 2.7 mm long on the undersides of leaves or near the ground and pupate inside.[1]
Look-alikes
| Look-alike | How to tell them apart |
|---|---|
| Ants | Adults are easily mistaken for ants because of their narrow waist and quick movements, but they carry banded black-and-white wings.[1][3] |
| Franklinothrips orizabensis | A very similar predatory thrips that is the main natural enemy of avocado thrips in California; its forewings are broader at the tip and lack a pale band near the tip.[1][2] |
Where it lives
Presumed native to Central America and now found in warm regions around the world. In the United States it has been recorded from Arizona, California, Colorado, Texas and Florida.[1][3]
Biology and life cycle
Females insert single, kidney-shaped eggs into leaf tissue and cover them with a yellowish secretion. A female can live up to two months and lay 150 to 200 eggs.[1]
It is active above about 18°C (64°F) and develops from egg to adult in about three weeks at 27°C (81°F). No winter dormancy has been reported.[1]
Larvae and adults run down their prey and hold it with their front legs while feeding. It usually reproduces without males, and males have not been seen where it was introduced in Asia.[1]
It lives on low plants and shrubs, including beans, melons, cucumber, eggplant, avocado, citrus and ornamental sunflowers. In central Florida it has been collected in small numbers from roadside plumbago and grassy weeds. Some Franklinothrips also feed on pollen or plant sap.[1]
Damage and signs
- It is a predator, not a plant pest. Recorded prey include redbanded thrips, chilli thrips, melon thrips, onion thrips, western flower thrips and greenhouse thrips, and in the laboratory it also eats spider mites, young whiteflies, leafminer larvae and psyllid eggs.[1]
- On California avocados it is one of several predatory thrips that feed on avocado thrips, other pest thrips and mites.[2]
- In laboratory tests against larvae of the invasive thrips Thrips parvispinus, it ate far more prey, and handled each one faster, than the two predatory mites tested alongside it.[4]
Health risk
UF/IFAS describes it only as a predator of small arthropods and mentions no bites or other harm to people.[1]
Control
Prevention
No control is needed: it is a beneficial predator, so leave it alone. Some Franklinothrips also feed on pollen or plant sap, which can expose them to systemic insecticides.[1]
Biological control
It is sold in Europe and Israel for use in greenhouses, botanical gardens, interior landscapes and nurseries, and outdoors in subtropical regions. High rearing costs, poor tolerance of cold storage and limited research have held back wider commercial use.[1][3]
Common questions
- What is the tiny ant-like insect with banded wings on my plants?
- It may be a vespiform thrips, a predatory thrips that mimics ants. Look for the black-and-white banded wings and the white band at the narrow waist.[1]
- Are vespiform thrips harmful to plants?
- No. They are predators that eat pest thrips, mites and other small insects. Their red-banded larvae are hunters too.[1][3]
- Can I buy vespiform thrips for biological control?
- It is sold as a biological control agent in Europe and Israel. Researchers consider it a promising thrips predator, but say more is needed to know how much it can contribute in control programs.[1][3]
Sources
- University of Florida IFAS Extension (EDIS), “Vespiform Thrips, Franklinothrips vespiformis Crawford, Featured Creatures EENY621 (R. Mao, Y. Xiao and S. P. Arthurs, 2015; archival copy).” journals.flvc.org/edis/article/view/132201 (accessed 2026-11-09)
- University of California Statewide IPM Program, “Avocado Thrips, UC IPM Pest Management Guidelines: Avocado.” ipm.ucanr.edu/agriculture/avocado/avocado-thrips (accessed 2026-11-09)
- Insects (MDPI), “A Review of Franklinothrips vespiformis (Thysanoptera: Aeolothripidae): Life History, Distribution, and Prospects as a Biological Control Agent (Hussain et al. 2022, Insects 13:108), abstract.” pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35206682/ (accessed 2026-11-09)
- Journal of Economic Entomology (Entomological Society of America), “Functional responses of 3 generalist predators to Thrips parvispinus: Amblydromalus limonicus, Amblyseius swirskii and Franklinothrips vespiformis (Park, McKenzie and Osborne 2026, Journal of Economic Entomology 119:3235-3248), abstract.” pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42340863/ (accessed 2026-11-09)
- iNaturalist, “Franklinothrips vespiformis taxon page (order and family).” www.inaturalist.org/taxa/270746 (accessed 2026-11-09)