Holopothrips nigrisetis, Lindner & Ferrari & Mound & Cavalleri, 2018

Lindner, Mariana F., Ferrari, Augusto, Mound, Laurence A. & Cavalleri, Adriano, 2018, Holopothrips diversity-a Neotropical genus of gall-inducing insects (Thysanoptera, Phlaeothripidae), Zootaxa 4494 (1), pp. 1-99 : 67-69

Holopothrips nigrisetis sp. n.

( Figs 191–197 )

Diagnostic features. Body (except antenna) uniformly dark brown; maxillary stylets V-shaped; two pairs of long pronotal setae on epimeral region; metanotal sculpture striate thoroughly; pelta with irregular and slightly curved margins; male with three pore plates with irregular margins on sternites VII–VIII; female spermatheca not enlarged.

Macropterous female: Body ( Fig. 191 ) uniformly brown, with tarsi brown but slightly lighter than tibiae, tergite X dark brown with apex lighter. Antennal segments I–II concolourous with head, II lighter on extreme apex, III yellow, IV–V yellow weakly shaded brown on apical half, VI yellowish brown with base paler, VII–VIII light brown. Fore wings pale with basal half weakly shaded and extreme base light brown, median dark line present on hind wings but weakly indicated or absent on fore wings, clavus shaded; major body setae dark brown.

Head ( Fig. 192 ) about 1.5 times as long as width behind eyes, dorsal surface with transverse lines of sculpture, cheeks straight. Eyes well-developed, dorsal length about 0.3 of head length; po with blunt to slightly capitate apex, almost as long as the dorsal length of the eye. Maxillary stylets V-shaped, reaching halfway to po level and about half of head width apart. Mouth cone with pointed tip, reaching close to anterior margin of ferna. Antennal segment III with 3 sense cones and IV with 3 sense cones + 1 additional small sense cone.

Pronotum ( Fig. 192 ) trapezoidal, surface smooth medially, transverse lines of sculpture near posterior margin; epimeral sutures incomplete. Six major pairs of pronotal setae, two pairs on epimeral region; am reduced, all other setae well-developed; aa with blunt tip, ml, ep and pa with blunt to slightly capitate tips. Basantra absent; prosternal ferna well-developed, close medially but not touching. Mesonotum ( Fig. 193 ) with short transverse lines enclosing elongated reticles; internal markings on sculpture absent. Metanotum ( Fig. 197 ) with long lines forming a striate pattern, sometimes enclosing thin longitudinally elongated reticles, internal markings on sculpture present; one or two pairs of anterior discal setae and one pair of median major setae present. Fore tarsal hamus not enlarged. Fore wings with 10 to 16 duplicated cilia.

Pelta ( Fig. 194 ) triangular with very irregular margins, anterior margin straight to almost acute, with lateral wings; paired campaniform sensilla present. Sculpture covering the whole pelta, sometimes weaker near anterior margin; thin longitudinally elongated reticles medially, elongated irregular reticles laterally, internal markings on sculpture present medially. Tergite II with irregular transversely elongate reticles medially; sculpture less defined on further tergites. Tergites II–VII with three pairs of wing retaining setae. Tergite IX setae S1, S2 and S3 with acute apexes. Tube about 0.8 of head length and about 2.3–2.6 times as long as greatest width near base, apical width about 0.5 of basal width. Spermatheca ( Fig. 195 ) thickened medially but not swollen.

Measurements (female holotype in microns): Length about 2864; head length 305, width behind eyes 207, po length 85, eye dorsal length 97; median length of pronotum 152, width across ep 317, am 10, aa 32, ml 55, ep 92, pa 92; width of mesonotum 345; fore wing length 1060; tergite IX setae S1 252, S2 287, S3 255; tergite X length 265, basal width 109, apical width 55; length(width) of antennal segments III–VIII 87 (39), 75(37), 75(35), 67(32), 67(27), 47(12), respectively.

Macropterous male: Similar to female in both colouration and structure, but slightly smaller. Pore plates ( Fig. 196 ) with reticulate texture and irregular margins present on sternites VII–VIII: VII with one transverse band posterior to discal setae, VIII with two anteroangular plates, and one transverse band posterior to discal setae.

Measurements (male paratype in microns): Length about 2567; head length 287, width behind eyes 187, po length 80, eye dorsal length 97; median length of pronotum 140, width across ep 292, am 10, aa 31, ml 57, ep 100, pa 85; width of mesonotum 325; fore wing length 1000; tergite IX setae S1 225, S2 255, S3 257; tergite X length 230, basal width 99, apical width 47; length(width) of antennal segments III–VIII 80 (35), 65(32), 69(35), 65(30), 65(22), 40(10), respectively.

Material studied. Holotype female, Brazil, Espírito Santo, Santa Teresa, in Myrcia sp. gall, 3.iv.2009 (Maia, V.C.), at UFRGS. Slide code UFRGS 1174 .

Paratypes: 3 males and 5 females collected with holotype, at UFRGS . 1 male and 1 female collected with holotype, at ANIC .

Etymology. Species named after its dark-coloured major body setae.

Comments. One of the unusual traits of this species is the pelta with very irregular lateral margins, which are frequently eroded and curved ( Fig. 194 ). The margins of the male pore plates are also irregular, with the anteroangular plates on sternite VIII frequently being linked to the posterior plate near the lateral margins ( Fig. 196 ). On sternite VII of some specimens it is unclear if the anteroangular plates are absent or reduced to small spots linked to the posterior plate. Holopothrips nigrisetis may be related to some other large, dark-bodied species of the genus with two pairs of epimeral setae, such as H. atlanticus (which has pronotal am and coxal setae welldeveloped and longer than aa setae, and pore plates only on sternite VIII), H. cardosoi and H. nigrum sp. n. (both species with parallel maxillary stylets instead of V-shaped, and males with a single pore plate on sternite VIII). Maia et al. (2014) observed this thrips inducing galls in the leaves of an undetermined Myrcia species.

Figures

FIGURES 191–197. Holopothrips nigrisetis sp. nov. paratypes. (191) body; (192) head and pronotum; (193) mesonotum; (194) pelta; (195) spermatheca; (196) pore plates on abdominal sternites VII–VIII; (197) metanotum.