Red-crossed Kayak Thrips
This animal is about 9mm long, but very slim. It was found on our Lemon tree, moving fast. Its body, especially the back, has the shape of a kayak. Hence I chose that name since I have not identified it yet. The red can only be seen on the photo but the overall look is black. The animal can fly. It might be an instar of an already presented bug. Update: a QuestaGame expert sent me a friendly feedback, placing this animal in the Phlaeothripidae family, a Thrips. From there, I did some further research. May I have covered some developmental stages of this animal earlier? And I may also have made a spelling mistake. Since this is not a bug, this gallery was moved into a general Arthropoda gallery. A former find may (or may not) represent this species. Referring to the bright red, minute animal, I moved the information here for now. This animal is about 0.8mm (sic!) in size. It is hardly visible by eye. It was a bright red spot. My initial association with a mite is definitely wrong. Experts from QuestaGames confirm that it is an insect. It is obviously quite difficult to identify. Most likely identification is that it belongs to Thysanoptera, the Thirps family. The QuestaGame experts went beyond any of my expectations. I would like to quote their expertise but am not really sure if I have permission to do so. Let me say: It is such taxonomists that advance knowledge and passion for faunal documentation. We definitely need more invertebrate taxonomists, and more people to appreciate. Those two form a direct systemic relationship. The more useful expertise shared, the more appreciation and the more opportunities for taxonomic expertise. Unfortunately, this circle also goes into the other direction, as seen in nudibranchia where huge efforts were taken for three decades to store knowledge away and monopolise it with a few single people, some of which are more interested in other taxa and projects.
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