Urothrips probolus, Lu & Wang, 2019

Lu, Wenmin & Wang, Jun, 2019, A new species of Urothrips (Thysanoptera, Phlaeothripidae) from canopy of monsoon forest in China, Zootaxa 4614 (1), pp. 191-194 : 191-194

Urothrips probolus sp. n. ( Figs 1–10 )

Female aptera. Body ( Fig. 1 ) bicolored, brown and yellowish white; head, pro- and mesothorax brown, but anterior half of prothorax yellowish white, metathorax and abdominal segments I–VIII yellowish white and with brown shadings laterally and medially, segment IX brownish with longitudinal brown shadings on both lateral and anterior a third yellowish, tube yellow with apex brown; antennal segments I–III yellow, segment IV brownish yellow and gradually darkened to apex, segments V–VI brown; fore legs yellowish white but coxae brown, mid legs yellowish white but shaded with brownish and coxae brown, hind leg brownish, all tarsi yellow with brown markings.

Head ( Fig. 2 ) longer than wide, gradually widened towards base, cheeks setae small and blunt, vertex prolonged over antennal bases as a prominent protuberance, dorsal surface and cheeks with numerous small tubercles, without long anterior cephalic setae; eyes each with 6 ommatidia dorsally, ocelli absent. Antennae ( Fig. 3 ) 6-segmented, segment IV longest and with faint sutures between the morphological segments, VI without sutures; maxillary stylets retracted to compound eyes, subparallel and their nearest distance about one tenth of the head width, without maxillary bridge; mouth cone rounded, reaching prosternum medially Pronotum (Fig. 6) about 1.7 times as wide as long, dorsal surface with small tubercles and each with a setae blunt at apex (see a red arrow in Fig. 6); epimeral setae well-developed and somewhat dilated at apex; epimeral suture absent. Basantra reduced to two small triangle plates laterally, each with 2 pairs of setae; ferna present (Fig. 7), mesopresternum narrow and boat-shaped. Meso- and metanotum (Fig. 8) with many small tubercles, each with a small setae blunt at apex (see red arrows in Fig. 8); mesothoracic furcae incompletely fused together medially, but metathoracic furcae widely separated (Fig. 9). Legs short with some tubercles, each with minute setae; fore tarsus with a hook-like hamus on external margin (Fig. 5).

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Abdominal tergite I with few irregular transverse striate, closely fused to tergite II (Fig. 4); tergites II–VIII each with a pair of posterolateral setae, blunt at apex, with a transverse row of 18–20 short setae; tergite II with two pairs of posteromarginal setae (Fig. 4), III–VIII with three pairs. Abdominal sternites (Fig. 10) II–VIII each with 5–7 pairs of pointed setae medially, and 2 pairs of posteromarginal setae placed in front of posterior margin on II–VI, but at margin on VII–VIII; tube as long as head; anal setae more than three times length of tube Measurements (Holotype in microns). Body length 1341. Head length 205, maximum width 155. Pronotum length 109, median width 180. Abdominal tergite VIII length 71, tergite IX length 191, width near base 101, distal 53. Tube length 207, width basal 29, apical 31. Antennae segments I to VI length (width) as follows: 22 (28), 22 (27), 26 (21), 58 (28), 30 (17), 38 (13). Length of setae: pronotum epimeral setae 14; abdominal tergites discal setae 4-5, posterolateral setae 21, posteromarginal setae 8; anal setae 662.

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Male. Unknown.

Specimens examined. Holotype female, China, Yunnan province, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Mengla County, Menglun Town, Bakaxiaozhai Reserve , monsoon forest canopy (21.96°N, 101.20°E, alt 706 m), 5.viii.2012 ( Guo Zheng ) . Paratype: 2 females, collected with holotype, 2 females, same data with holotype except 12.viii.2012. Type specimens deposited in the Insect Collection of Jilin University ( JLU); 2 paratypes are deposited in the Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO, Canberra.

Etymology. The Greek word probolus refers to the produced, hump-like ocellar region of the vertex.

Differential diagnosis. This new species is the fourth species of Urothrips in which the ocellar region is produced as a hump over the basal antennal segments. However both U. gibberosa and U. reticulatus have antennal segment V constricted at the base and distinct from IV. Moreover, in reticulatus antennal segment VIII is distinguished from VII by a clear suture, although these two segments are completely fused in gibberosa . In contrast, both U. juncus and the new species have antennal segment V broad at the base, although in junctus there is a clear suture indicating the apex of IV, whereas in the new species these segments are completely fused with no obvious suture. Moreover, the maxillary stylets of junctus are about one third of head width apart, whereas in the new species the stylets are close together medially in the head.

Figures

FIGURES 1–5. Urothrips humpus sp. n. (female): (1) Habitus, (2) head, (3) antenna, (4) abdominal tergites I–V, (5) fore legs

FIGURES 6–10. Urothrips humpus sp. n. (female): (6) pronotum, (7) prosternum, (8) meso- and metanotum, (9) meso- and metaster- num, (10) abdominal sternum I–V