Female banded greenhouse thrips, approximately 1.5 mm long, are primarily yellow at first but gradually darken to brown or black.
Males are rare.
When first deposited, the translucent elongate eggs are white 0.25 mm in length. Before hatching, each eggs wells and becomes dull white. The yellow or white larvae vary from 0.48 to 1.5 mm in length. They are wingless and have red eyes. These stages are white and found on the leaves.