This paper provides an illustrated key to about 40 species of Frankliniella recorded from Brazil, together with notes abouteach species. Two new synonyms are established: Frankliniella longispinosa Moulton is a synonym of Frankliniellavaripes Moulton; Frankliniella rodeos Moulton is a synonym of Frankliniella gemina Bagnall, all described originallyfrom South America. One new species is described, Frankliniella graminis sp.n. is recorded from Poaceae in central andsoutheastern Brazil. Four species are newly recorded from Brazil: Frankliniella frumenti Moulton, Frankliniella gossypiana (Hood), Frankliniella musaeperda Hood and Frankliniella platensis De Santis.

ABSTRACT. Thysanoptera: visited and host plants at Parque Estadual de Itapuã, Viamão, RS, Brazil. The scientific knowledge about the association of Thysanoptera with native or cultivated plants in the Neotropical region is practically nonentity. This work aimed at identifying the thrips species and the plants visited by them or used as hosts in a Conservation Unit, the "Parque Estadual de Itapuã" (30°22'S 51°02'W), Viamão, Rio Grande do Sul, Southern Brazil. Between June 1999 and May 2001, branches (n=1,274), flowers (n=774) and grass tussocks (n=596) were systematically sampled at 20 points in four standardized transects. A total of 72 plant species belonging to 26 families were identified, 60 of those were registered as host plants. From a total of 9,602 thrips specimens, 4,900 (50%) were registered in flowers, 3,764 (39%) in branches and 938 (10%) in grass tussocks. For 6,533 of the specimens (4,480 immatures and 2,053 adults), it was possible to identify the plant on which they were collected. Of a total richness of 61 species of thrips, 35 were recorded in flowers, 36 in branches and 14 in grass tussocks. The most abundant thrips species and the plant species that showed the higher thrips diversity are commented upon. KEYWORDS.Host-plant, thrips, native species, Southern Brazil. PALAVRAS-CHAVE.Planta hospedeira, tripes, espécies nativas, sul do Brasil.

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Prescribed patch burning is a well‐known tool for grassland and savanna management that has been recognised as a suitable strategy to enhance biodiversity at landscape‐level scales. Nevertheless, effective monitoring of the biota responses to fire is an essential step towards biodiversity conservation. We investigated fire effects on thrips communities (Thysanoptera) – a group of minute and diverse insect in grasslands. We performed a replicated small‐scale fire experiment in South Brazilian Campos, and tested for fire effects on total abundance, species richness of different feeding guilds (e.g. leaf, flower and fungal feeders) and thrips species body size in the short (1 month) and long‐term (1 year). We found positive fire effects on leaf herbivore richness in recently burned patches where the resprouted vegetation had enhanced nutritional quality, and also later on following the diversification of plant communities. The richness of fungivorous thrips was also benefited by resource heterogeneity in burned patches 1 year after fire. A positive fire effect on thrips community body size was also found at this time, possibly indicating that larger species had an advantage in dispersal to the spatially distributed burned patches across the unburned grassland matrix. Effects on total abundances were not detected. Our study emphasises the role of prescribed patch burnings in producing high quality resource‐rich habitat spots for Thysanoptera communities at local scales.

Non-forest ecosystems, as natural grasslands from Southern Brazil, are still neglected in conservation policies. Measuring their biodiversity is one of the main steps to generate management strategies for these habitats. This study aims to (i) describe grassland ant richness and composition in Rio Grande do Sul state, and (ii) compare ant communities sampled on the ground and in grassland vegetation, adding to our knowledge of habitat use patterns and vegetation associated species. Six sites were sampled, three belonging to the Pampa biome and three in highland region from the Atlantic Forest biome. Ant fauna was collected once per year in summer during four years in each site with pitfalls traps and sweeping nets. Overall, 29,812 ant individuals were sampled belonging to eight subfamilies, 30 genera e 106 species. The grasslands of Pampa accumulated 91 species and 45 exclusive species, while highland grasslands summed up 61 species and only 15 exclusive species. Species composition differs between biomes as well as between sampling methods. Ant communities sampled from vegetation represented a clear subset of the fauna sampled with pitfall traps, and indication analysis showed only two species associated with this stratum: Myrmelachista gallicola and Pseudomyrmex nr. flavidulus. This study highlights the importance of Southern Brazilian grasslands and the need for specific conservation strategies for the natural grasslands from each biome.

The insects known as thrips are commonly thought of as flower‐living and pestiferous organisms, but we report here a novel interaction between a phlaeothripine thrips species, Mirothrips arbiter gen. et sp. nov. and three species of social paper wasps in Brazil. This thrips species breeds inside the wasp colonies, and larval and adult thrips feed on wasp eggs, which become severely damaged. Infested nests can contain up to 300 M. arbiter gen. et sp. nov. individuals. The closest relatives of M. arbiter are two presumably predaceous species: Mirothrips bicolor sp. nov., which inhabits abandoned Cecidomyiidae galls, and Mirothrips analis comb. nov., described from individuals collected in the silken bags of the caterpillars of Psychidae moths. The behaviour exhibited by M. arbiter represents one of the most evolutionarily advanced lifestyles known among Thysanoptera, and we predict that other polistine species serve as hosts for this thrips in Brazil. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2013, 109, 332–341.

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This study reports four thrips species from Brazil for the first time: the terebrantians Aptinothrips rufus (Haliday) and Echinothrips caribbeanus Hood; and the tubuliferans Androthrips ramachandrai Karny and Gynaikothrips uzeli (Zimmermann). New data about biological aspects of some of these new records are presented.