Taeniothrips species

Mound, L. A., Azidah, A. A. & Ng, Y. F., 2012, Key to the non-fossil species of the genus Taeniothrips (Thysanoptera, Thripidae), Zootaxa 3414 (1), pp. 33-42 : 35-40

Notes on Taeniothrips species

The 24 non-fossil species currently listed worldwide in this genus are given in Table 1, but see Note 7 below. The notes given here are intended to draw attention to some of the taxonomic problems in the genus. Many of the slides studied are indicated in Fig. 1.

1. The type species of Taeniothrips is the widespread European species, picipes . However, females from Europe cannot be distinguished satisfactorily from those of orchidi , a species described from northern India. Ananthakrishnan provided no comparison to any other thrips species in describing orchidi , but three females bearing type data have been studied ( Fig. 1 ) and these have antennal segments IV and V bright yellow in at least their basal halves ( Fig. 21 ). Also closely similar is oreophilus , described from Taiwan, and considered widespread in various flowers in the mountains of Japan (teste M. Masumoto in litt. 2012). Females identified here as oreophilus have been studied from Pahang, Central Highlands of Peninsular Malaysia (CISUKM), and a male and female have been studied from Chiang Mai, Thailand. The females of these three species cannot be distinguished satisfactorily from each other, but among males there are possibly slight differences in the genitalia and chaetotaxy of the ninth tergite. Despite this, there remains a possibility that these three nominal forms represent a single widespread Palaearctic species.

2. One pair of Holarctic species, major from the Himalayas and orionis from western North America, also cannot be distinguished from each other. Females are unusual within the genus in having distinct, but sometimes weak, reticulate sculpture medially on at least the anterior half of the abdominal tergites ( Fig. 16 ). Moreover, these females usually lack a seta medially on the first vein of the fore wing, although specimens of both species have been studied in which one (or even two) setae are present in this position although usually only on one wing. The males of both major and orionis have long slender setae medially on tergite IX ( Fig. 10 ), and the sternal pore plates are oval, variable in size and usually less than 40 microns wide. Also related is glanduculus Han described from Xizang, Tibet. A paratype of both sexes of this species have been studied (in BMNH). These cannot be distinguished satisfactorily from major , and they probably represent that species. A further name, microglandus Han , was a mis-spelling of glanduculus , not a validly described species.

3. Although described originally from Bermuda, eucharii is an Oriental species that is associated with various Liliaceae and related plants, particularly Hymenocallis . Specimens have been studied from between Malaysia, Japan and northern Australia ( Mound & Tree 2009). Similar in structure, but here interpreted as a distinct species, cognaticeps was described from two females taken in Taiwan. One of these has been studied, from the locality Rarasan ( Figs 1 , 18 ), and this specimen is smaller than eucharii , with shorter antennae in which the segment apices are less attenuated, and the fore wings more uniformly dark to the base.

4. Moulton (1940) described euophthalmos from seven females and two males taken from Zingiberaceae at “Koitaki, New Guinea ”. This species was transferred to Amomothrips by Bhatti (1978), but the type species of that genus, A. associatus , has ocellar setae pair I present (see Fig. 1 in Bhatti, 1978), whereas this pair of setae is not present in the holotype of euophthalmos (see Fig. 57 in Mound & Ng, 2009), nor in two available paratypes (in BMNH). However, the paratype female and male, but not the holotype, have ocellar setae pair II duplicated, a condition very similar to that illustrated by Bhatti for A. associatus . Two further males and females of euophthalmos have been studied (in BMNH), collected from Ellateria cardamomum ( Zingiberaceae ) in New Britain, and these also lack ocellar setae pair I, have ocellar setae pair II duplicated, and the pronotum and vertex strongly striate. However, one male has been studied from Terengganu, West Malaysia (in BMNH), that appears to be the same species but has ocellar setae pair I present just in front of the first ocellus, and ocellar setae pair II duplicated. The chaetotaxy of the head of this specimen is thus essentially similar to that of A. associatus as illustrated by Bhatti. There is thus a possibility that a species of Taeniothrips living on the flowers of cardamon plants in south-east Asia has the number of ocellar setae unstable. If further field collecting proves this to be true, then Amomothrips might need to be considered a synonym of Taeniothrips .

5. Seven species listed in Taeniothrips were described from Indonesia, one from Sumatra but the others from Java. Two of these are considered below to be unrecognisable (see Note 7). Of the other five, each was described from an unspecified number of both sexes. One of these, amomi , was stated by Priesner to be very similar to nomoceras Karny , and this similarity is here confirmed as indicated by the key above. No further specimens of these two have been studied, and their identity remains unclear. The available original specimens of fallax are mounted ventrolaterally with many characters obscured ( Fig. 1 ), but in both sexes the fore wing lacks a seta medially on the first vein, antennal segment IV is slender and elongate, segment VI has three rows of microtrichia on the basal half, and the male is unusual in this genus in having one pair of stout, almost thorn-like, setae medially on tergite IX ( Fig. 12 ). On the basis of these characters, a series of specimens (8 males, 3 females) from Pahang, Central Highlands of Peninsular Malaysia (in CISUKM), are here identified as fallax . These females of fallax ( Figs 5 , 17 ) are similar to the single available female of nomoceras , but in that female antennal segment VI has small setae on the basal half with no microtrichia, and the fore wing has a seta medially on the first vein.

6. The other two species described by Priesner from Indonesia, miorhizae and montivagus , are much larger and darker than amomi and fallax . However, although distinguished in the key above by the position of the metanotal median setae, there remains a possibility that miorhizae is no more that a large form of montivagus . The original description of montivagus was based on specimens from several localities. Two females from “Panangro” labelled “ paratypes ” have been studied ( Fig. 1 ), although no holotype was designated with the original description. These two females have one or two rows of microtrichia on the basal third of antennal segment VI; the available female of miorhizae has a single microtrichium ventrally on the basal third of this segment. In contrast, a series of 10 females that are here identified as montivagus , from Pahang, Central Highlands of Peninsular Malaysia (in CISUKM), have small setae but no microtrichia on the basal third of antennal segment VI. The body length among this series of specimens varies from 1.6 to 2.3 mm, and the pronotal posteroangular setae of the larger specimens are longer than the median length of the pronotum.

7. The single specimen from which dealatus was described has presumably been lost ( Bhatti, 1978: 188), but the original illustration ( Priesner, 1928: 44, Fig. 1 ) indicated that ocellar setae pair III arise on the anterior margins of the ocellar triangle, not within the triangle. Thus dealatus is not a species of Taeniothrips as now defined Another long lost species, sexnotatus Zehntner , was stated by Priesner (1938: 526) to be presumably not a Taeniothrips . A female paratype of pediculae Han has been studied (in BMNH) and this has no comb on tergite VIII and ocellar setae pair I are present; this is therefore not a species of Taeniothrips . Also described from China, angustiglandus Han & Cui , was based on four males with the body yellow not dark brown, and the pore plates occupying at least 20% of the width of the sternites. Females of this species have not been mentioned in published literature, and the identity of the species remains in doubt.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Type slides of some Taeniothrips species.

FIGURES 17–21. Taeniothrips species antenna. (17) fallax; (18) cognaticeps; (19) damansarae; (20) montivagus; (21) orchidi.

FIGURES 10–16. Taeniothrips species. Male tergites VIII–IX 10–13: (10) orionis; (11) eucharii; (12) fallax; (13) damansarae. (14) damansarae female tergites VI–X. Female tergite V 15–16: (15) eucharii, (16) major.

FIGURES 2–9. Taeniothrips species. (2) picipes; (3) damansarae; (4) montivagus; (5) fallax; (6) major; (7) damansarae male sternites; (8–9) damansarae ocellar setae pair III – 8, paratype female; 9, holotype female.