Thrips darwini, Mound & Masumoto, 2005

Mound, Laurence A. & Masumoto, Masami, 2005, The genus Thrips (Thysanoptera, Thripidae) in Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand, Zootaxa 1020 (1), pp. 1-64 : 20-22

Thrips darwini sp.n.

Diagnosis: Female bicoloured, body and legs mainly yellow, abdominal segments VI–VIII progressively darker, IX–X dark brown; antennal segments I & III yellow, II shaded basally on inner margin, IV–V with apical half light brown, VI–VII brown; forewings weakly shaded but with apex and distal part of anterior margin pale; major setae light brown.

Head broader than long, vertex and ocellar region transversely striate ( Fig. 18 ); ocellar setae III arising on outer margin of ocellar triangle near first ocellus; postocular setae I & III twice as long as setae II and IV, pair V intermediate in length. Antennae 7­segmented. Pronotum transverse, surface with many faint transverse lines but only 2 or 3 setae medially, outer postero­angular setae slightly shorter than inner pair ( Fig. 18 ), posterior margin with 3 pairs of setae. Mesonotum with no campaniform sensilla near anterior margin. Metanotum with transverse sculpture on anterior half, equiangular on posterior, reticles with some internal markings ( Fig. 19 ); median pair of setae not close to anterior margin; campaniform sensilla present. Forewings variable in length, first vein with about 7 setae on basal half and 3 setae on distal half; second vein with 11 to 12 setae; clavus with 5 marginal setae, terminal seta longest. Abdominal tergite I with irregular sculpture medially, remaining tergites with lines of sculpture weak or absent mesad of campaniform sensilla; tergite II with 3 lateral marginal setae, V–VIII with chaetotaxy and ctenidia typical of Thrips ; tergite VIII with no posteromarginal comb but with a few very small teeth close to lateral margins ( Fig. 20 ); tergite IX with 2 pairs of campaniform sensilla, X with median split long but not complete. Sternites and pleurotergites without discal setae, sternite II with 2 pairs of posteromarginal setae, 3 pairs of small setae at anterior margin; sternite VII median pair of setae close to posterior margin.

Measurements of holotype female in microns: Body length 1300. Head, length 100; width 150; ocellar setae III 20. Pronotum, length 125; width 185; postero­angular setae– outer 50, inner 65. Forewing length 600. Antennal segments III–VII length 47, 45, 37, 55, 20.

Type material: Holotype ♀ Australia, Northern Territory, Humpty Doo , from bamboo shoots, 16.xi.1994, in ANIC.

Paratypes: 1♀ taken with holotype; 2♀ from same host and locality, 5.xi.1996.

Breeding: This species has been taken on two widely separated dates from the young leaves of a bamboo species.

Distribution: Australia, Northern Territory.

Relationships: This species will track to the Philippines species, T. alius , using Palmer’s (1992) key to Oriental Thrips species , but that is a brown insect with no metanotal campaniform sensilla. Despite the presence of these campaniform sensilla, the sculpture of the metanotum and the absence of a posteromarginal comb on tergite VIII suggest that this species belongs with the T. orientalis group. No other member of Thrips genus is known with the above character states and a similar bicoloured body (cf. Bhatti, 1999b), although an undescribed member of Stenchaetothrips , also collected from bamboo near Darwin, is similar in general appearance to T. darwini .

Figures

FIGURES 15–25. Thrips species. T. coprosmae 15–17: (15) Head & pronotum; (16) Meso­metanota; (17) Tergites & pleurotergites III–IV. T. darwini 18–20: (18) Head & pronotum; (19) Meso­metanota; (20) Tergites VII–VIII. T. diana 21–23: (21) Head & pronotum; (22) Meso­metanota; (23) Pleurotergites III–IV. T. excaeletus 24–25: (24) Head & pronotum; (25) Meso­metanota.