An insect belonging to the order Thysanoptera with about 5,500 species worldwide, of which about 400 species occur in Central Europe. They bear the trivial name fringe because of their typical long hair fringes on the edges of their wings. Only the species grapevine thrips (Drepanothrips reuteri) is important as a pest on the vine, but it also attacks other plants. The insect overwinters as a female, preferably under the bark of the stem, but also on withered foliage and in the soil. With the shoots in spring, the first animals migrate to the leaves and lay bean-shaped eggs, about 0.2 millimetres in size, in the leaf tissue. Development takes place via two larval and up to three nymphal stages (juvenile stages) to the formed sexual animals. These are only 0.6 to 0.8 millimetres in size, have characteristically fringed wings, two visible eyes and a pair of antennae with six limbs.
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Technischer Lehrer, staatl. geprüfter Sommelier, Hotelfachschule Heidelberg