Aduncothrips asiaticus (Ramakrishna & Margabandhu)

Li, Yajin, Elie, Ntirenganya, Liu, Hui & Zhang, Hongrui, 2022, Aduncothrips newly recorded from China, with three new species and a new generic synonym (Thysanoptera: Aeolothripidae), Zootaxa 5141 (1), pp. 49-59 : 51

Aduncothrips asiaticus (Ramakrishna & Margabandhu)

Erythrothrips asiaticus Ramakrishna & Margabandhu, 1931: 1029

Known only from India, this species was described originally from two females taken from grass, but Rachana et al. (2020) recorded eight females and one male from Moringa oleifera . The latter authors redescribed the species and described the male for the first time. That description indicated that in females the maxillary palp segment II is fivesegmented but did not mention the condition of these palps in the male. Moreover, tergite IX of the male was stated to bear curved claspers. Recently, Dr Rachana kindly rechecked this male, and confirmed that the “claspers” are actually an artefact, and that the male maxillary palp segment II is undivided. With her help, we therefore conclude that in Aduncothrips the number of divisions on the maxillary palp segment II is sometimes sex-related, and that tergite IX is simple .

Some members of the family Aeolothripidae are obligate predators of small arthropods whereas other species feed on floral tissues as well as prey, and others are solely phytophagous. A. asiaticus were found to be predatory on several different Thripidae ( Sureshkumar & Ananthakrishnan 1987) , but particularly on Scirtothrips dorsalis , feeding on eggs, larvae, and adults. Unfortunately, the feeding habits of other Aduncothrips species are not yet clear, and more field observations are needed.