Thrips (Thysanoptera) associated with rice crops in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, New South Wales

Seventeen commercial rice crops in the northern section of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area in southern New South Wales were sampled for thrips in the 2001/2 and 2002/3 rice seasons to determine whether oriental rice thrips (Stenchaetothrips biformis (Bagnall)), which is established in southern Queensland, had spread to the New South Wales rice area. Twenty-one species of thrips were identified from 2,220 specimens collected, however in each season four taxa, Thrips imaginis Bagnall, Anaphothrips obscurus (Müller), A. sudanensis Trybom and Haplothrips spp. together accounted for 84% or more of total collections. No other taxon exceeded 5% of captures in either season. Oriental rice thrips was not detected. There is no evidence to indicate that thrips communities found on rice during this survey were causing economic damage to the crop.