Thrips Provide Pollination Services While Harming Sunflowers

The value of thrips in ecosystems is often ignored. Most thrips in agroecosystems are indirectly or directly killed by default as pests, but their ecological effects have rarely been studied, especially with respect to their potential pollination value for crops. Identifying the potential value of thrips in agroecology will help change our understanding of this species. Here, we showed through the thrips–sunflower study model that thrips provide pollination services while harming sunflowers. We found via pollination manipulation assays that thrips have the ability to pollinate, which can help increase the yield of sunflowers and is an important wild pollination resource. Furthermore, we demonstrated through a pollen-carrier model that thrips have a remarkable ability to carry pollen. Therefore, the ecological function and value of thrips urgently need to be reconsidered; at the same time, the ecological value of thrips revealed by this research will help us balance the advantages and disadvantages of crop loss with pest ecological value.