Linzer biol. Beitr. 46/1 889-893 31.7.2014 Investigations on thrips (Thysanoptera) species occurring in flowers of cherry trees in Kemalpaúa (Izmir) province of western Turkey B. ŞAHIN & S. TEZCAN A b s t r a c t : The purpose of this study is to determine the species of Thysanoptera occurring in Kemalpaşa province of Izmir, western Turkey at cherry orchards, during the month of April of 2010 and 2011. Studied material were collected from flowers of cherry trees. At the end of this study, 21 species belonging to 3 families of Thysanoptera were determined. The most abundant species in this study were Thrips tabaci LINDEMAN, 1889, T. major UZEL, 1895, T. inconsequens (UZEL, 1895), and T. angusticeps UZEL, 1895. K e y w o r d s : Thysanoptera, cherry, Kemalpaşa, Izmir, Turkey. Introduction Cherry is a fruit which has an important place in the Turkish economy. There are 14.740.131 cherry trees in Turkey and annual production is 417.905 tons (ANONYMOUS 2011). Cherries are widely grown in the Mediterranean, Marmara and Aegean regions of Turkey. In the Aegean region Kemalpaşa (Izmir) is the area where they are mostly widespread (ANONYMOUS 2011) and 12 % of the Turkish cherry production is realized in Izmir (ANONYMOUS 2010). According to 2011 data, there are 1.800.000 trees bearing fruit in 85.595 decares of land in the Kemalpaşa province (ANONYMOUS 2011). There have been many studies (TEZCAN 1995, TEZCAN & CIVELEK 1996, TEZCAN & ONDER 1999, OZDER 1999, CINAR et al. 2004, TEZCAN & GULPERCIN 2005, BOLU et al. 2007, OZDEM et al. 2007, ERTOP & OZPINAR 2011, KAPLAN & TEZCAN 2011, BOZKURT & OZDEM 2013) on the pests and the beneficial species found in cherry orchards in Turkey which is one of the important producer countries. However, apart from LODOS (1993), OZBEK et al. (1996), ULUSOY et al. (1999), TEZCAN et al. (2006) no other study was found which went as far down as the species belonging to Thysanoptera. For the purpose of overcoming this absence, conducting a study in the cherry orchards in Kemalpaşa which is the most prominent cherry producing area of Izmir was deemed necessary. The scope of the study was to determine thrips species during the flowering period. © Biologiezentrum Linz/Austria; download unter www.biologiezentrum.at