Iranian islands of the Persian Gulf are located in warm and dry regions being affected by desert climate and have a long and warm summer as well as short and mild winter. These islands have tropical climate due to their geographic location in the subtropical ridge. In order to study the thrips fauna of Iranian islands of the Persian Gulf, separate surveys were carried out in four islands, i.e. Qeshm, Kish, Lark and Hengam islands. Thrips specimens were collected by beating plants over a white plastic tray. They were then removed with a fine brush into 2 ml Eppendorf tubes containing collecting fluid (AGA). A small pencil written label bearing collecting information was inserted in each tube. In the laboratory, thips specimens were slide-mounted in Canada balsam and identified by using relevant taxonomic keys. The results of these surveys show that the thrips fauna of the Iranian islands of the Persian Gulf is largely influenced by the fauna of East Asia, India and Africa. This is undoubtedly because of the climatic conditions occurred in these islands and their geographic location. In the current study, 20 species from these islands were collected and identified as follows:
Aeolothripidae:
Aeolothrips collaris Priesner
Aeolothrips tenuicornis Bagnall
Melanthripidae:
Melanthrips fuscus (Sulzer)
Thripidae:
Anaphothrips sudanensis Trybom
Eremiothrips antilope (Priesner)
Florithrips traegardhi (Trybom)
Frankliniella schultzei (Trybom)
Psilothrips bimaculatus (Priesner)
Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood
Tenothrips frici (Uzel)
Thrips simplex (Morison)
Thrips tabaci Lindeman
Phlaeothripidae:
Dolicholepta micrura (Bagnall)
Haplothrips bagnalli (Trybom)
Haplothrips clarisetis Priesner
Haplothrips eragrostidis Priesner
Haplothrips maroccanus Priesner
Haplothrips reuteri (Karny)
Liothrips reuteri (Bagnall)
Plicothrips apicalis (Bagnall)