Scirtothrips inermis has been detected on sticky traps in a botanic garden in the South East of England. S. inermis is present in Cyprus, the Canary Islands, mainland Spain, New Zealand, Australia and California. There have been two earlier findings of S. inermis in the UK, one on sticky traps from a botanic garden (1999) and the other outside in a different botanic garden on bay laurel (Laurus nobilis) (2000). It is not known whether populations of this species are still present at these sites. Given the size of the pest (<1mm) and the difficulties of identification, it would not be surprising if S. inermis is present in other sites around the UK, but has remained undetected.