This work records the presence of 13 species of tubuliferan thrips from the Maltese Islands. Eleven of these species, namely Bolothrips dentipes, B. insularis, Priesneriella mavromoustakisi, Gynaikothrips uzeli, Haplothrips acanthoscelis, H. aculeatus, H. setiger, H. tritici, Karnyothrips flavipes, Liothrips reuteri and Neoheegeria dalmatica are new records for the Maltese Islands. Two species: Gynaikothrips ficorum and Karnyothrips flavipes can be described as subcosmopolitan in distribution, another three species: Haplothrips aculeatus, H. setiger and H. tritici are distributed across the Holarctic and Palaearctic regions, while a further seven: Bolothrips dentipes, B. insularis, Haplothrips acanthoscelis, Liothrips oleae, L. reuteri, Neoheegeria dalmatica and Priesneriella mavromoustakisi have a European and/or Mediterranean distribution. Gynaikothrips ficorum and G. uzeli are considered as alien species. A key to the Tubulifera of the Maltese Islands as well as chorological data for these recorded species are provided in this work.

Thirty-nine species of terebrantian Thysanoptera belonging to four families and 22 genera are here recorded from the Maltese Islands. Of these, 33 represent new records to this archipelago. Thrips were collected from 65 different locations over a seven-year period, covering the main habitat types found across the Maltese Islands, namely steppe, garigue, maquis and woodland, but also sand dunes and saltmarshes as well as roadsides, private and public gardens, greenhouses and cultivated fields. An illustrated dichotomous key to identify the Terebrantia of the Maltese Islands is presented. Chorological data for the species researched in the current study shows that the majority of these insects are of a European Mediterranean origin, though the geographical distribution of some of them extends to Africa and the Middle East. Seven species associated with agricultural commodities were found to be of alien origin; however they were locally found in small numbers and do not pose a threat to horticulture.

The invasive polyphagous shot hole borer Euwallacea fornicatus (Eichhoff, 1868) was recorded in a public garden in Granada province, Andalusia, Southern Spain in April, 2022. This is the first record of a self‐sustaining population of this pest in an outdoor environment in Europe. This paper describes the morphological and molecular identification of the haplotype found in Spain. A recommended regulatory response is described, including a delimiting survey and an eradication program. The Spanish government is taking action to eradicate the pest.

This study was conducted to determine Thysanoptera species composition associated with olive trees, fruit injury, fluctuations in the abundance of the most phytophagous species relative to the phenological stages of the olive tree, and the temporal variations in the species Neohydatothripsamygdali in relation to environmental variations in Biskra province between 2018 and 2020. The olive orchard chosen for this study is located at the Experimental Station of the Technical Institute for the Development of Saharan Agriculture (ITDAS) in El Outaya (Biskra, a Saharan region of Algeria). Five trees were sampled each week, and thrips were collected by shaking 20 twigs (4 twigs per tree). Identification of thrips species was based on morphological characters of adults. Microscopic observation of the collected thrips specimens made it possible to report nine thrips species. Among them, four are reported for the first time in Algeria. Three taxa, namely Haplothrips tritici, Neohydatothrips amygdali, and Frankliniella occidentalis constituted the eudominant groups, representing 28.65%, 27.98%, and 23.39% of total specimens collected during the study, respectively. Thrips injury appeared as scaring and silvering of the fruit. The most abundant species was H. tritici, but N. amygdali was most common in the last two years of the survey. The influence of phenological stages of olive trees on the total number of H. tritici and F. occidentalis was significant. The highest numbers were recorded in flowering stage. The highest number of N. amygdali had two peaks: April (2020) and May (2018, 2019), as well as September (2020) and October (2018, 2019), when temperatures fluctuated between 20 °C and 30 °C. N. amygdali was totally absent during the other months (in winter and summer). During the three years of investigation, N. amygdali reproduced by thelytoky, with only females present.

The genus Thrips comprises 296 species (ThripsWiki 2019) and is the largest of all Terebrantian genera. The only other Thysanopteran genera comparable in size are the phlaeothripids Haplothrips and Liothrips. Species of Thrips can be found in flowers and on leaves of a wide variety of plants from grasses to trees. Most of them are beneficial pollinators (Garcia-Fayos & Goldarazena 2008; Eliyahu et al. 2015), while others are pests and cause significant economic damage (Mound & Marullo 1996). Some of them are polyphagous and widespread, while others are rarely seen and restricted to one species of plant (Palmer 1992).