The onion thrips, Thrips tabaci, is a serious global pest attacking many agricultural crops such as onion and Welsh onion. The thrips, assumed to originate in the Mediterranean region, has been reported for a long time in South Korea. According to worldwide molecular works, the species composes of three genetic lineages (LI, L2 and T) which related to reproductive mode (arrhenotoky vs. thelotoky). To understand the genetic diversity of T. tabaci in South Korea, we investigated genetic lineage and haplotype composition, using about 80 mitochondrial COI gene sequences (369bp) along with foreign sequences from GenBank and BOLD. The COI gene analysis shows that both of thelotokous L1 and arrhenotokous L2 population distribute in South Korea. Among 97 COI-haplotypes worldwide, only six haplotypes are found and thelotokous H1 dominantly distributes.

• Gwan-Seok Lee(Crop Protection Division, National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, RDA) Corresponding author
• In Hong Jeong(Crop Protection Division, National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, RDA)
• Wonhoon Lee(Department of Plant Medicine, Gyeongsang National University)