RECONOCIMIENTO E IDENTIFICACION DE TRIPS FITOFAGOS (THYSANOPTERA: THRIPIDAE) Y DEPREDADORES (THYSANOPTERA: PHLAEOTHRIPIDAE) ASOCIADOS A CULTIVOS COMERCIALES DE AGUACATE Persea spp. EN LOS DEPARTAMENTOS DE CALDAS Y RISARALDA (COLOMBIA)

three commercial avocado (persea sp.) cultivars were studied in the municipalities of palestine (caldas) and pereira and marseilles (risaralda), evaluating trees in production of ages of five to eight years, including for the three places the varieties santana, choquette, booth 8, trinidad and trapp. also, in the orchard of pereira the variety fuchsia was included. in all, the damage and distortions attributed to the action of thrips was verified. for the material considered, ten samples were made in each locality with a biweekly frequency, choosing in each sample one tree per variety. in each tree selected, 36 samples were taken as follows: three per stratum (high, intermediate and low), four per cardinal point (north, south, east and west), and from three structures of the plant (tender leaves, flowers, and developing fruits), for a total of 360 samples for each avocado variety in each of the three sampling localities. thrips were extracted from each sample, separating the morphs according to a reference collection previously established; morphs were quantified and the identification process was undertaken. in total, four morphs associated with avocado cultivation were identified; including two phytophagous species: selenothrips rubrocinctus giard and frankliniella gardeniae moulton, the latter a new report for a phytophagous species associated with avocado, according to mound (1998), and the genera leptothrips and karnyothrips with predatory habits. a widespread prevalence of f. gardeniae was found for the three localities, as compared to the other three morphs, occurring mainly in the floral structures and, to a lesser degree, in tender buds and developing fruits. thrips did not exhibit a preference for specific locations in terms of their vertical and horizontal distribution in the tree canopy. damage to avocado attributable to thrips was verified, demonstrating in the plantations: in fruit: deformed pericarp, parthenocarpus, whitish halos. in flowers: abundant