Thrips adults have a distinguishing feature on their wings. What is it?

• A. Fringe of hairs on their wings
• B. Wings with scales
• C. No wings
• D. Spots on wings

Answer: (A)

Thrips adults are best identified by a fringe of hairs along their wings. This fringe gives the wings a feathery or comb-like appearance and is the most distinctive feature you’ll notice, especially under magnification. Their wings are slender and not scaled like those of some other insects, and adults do have wings rather than being wingless, while wing spots aren’t a typical identifying trait for thrips. So the fringe of hairs on the wings is the key identifying characteristic.