Bamboosiella venkataramani, Kumar, Vikas & Tyagi, Kaomud, 2014

Kumar, Vikas & Tyagi, Kaomud, 2014, The Poaceae-associated genus Bamboosiella (Thysanoptera, Phlaeothripidae) from India with one new species, Zootaxa 3795 (1), pp. 79-84 : 81-83

Bamboosiella venkataramani sp. n.

( Figs 1–6 )

Male macroptera. Body bicoloured: yellow on median area of head, prothorax, abdominal segments I–IX and legs; brown on sides of head, sides of meso- and metanotum, median area of metanotum and tube; tergites III–VIII with small anteromedian brown line; antennal segment I yellow with very light brownish shade, II–III yellow, IV–VIII dark brown; fore wing faintly shaded.

Head 1.01 times as long as wide, constricted at base; dorsal surface with weak, widely spaced transverse striae or reticulation, ocellar region weakly reticulate; postocular setae shorter than eyes, apex expanded; cheeks weakly rounded; maxillary stylets short, wide apart, restricted to mouth cone; maxillary bridge absent. Antennae 2.2 times as long as head, segment VIII not pedicellate, broadly joined to VII; III with 1+1 and IV with 1+2+1 sense cones. Mouth cone long, reaching anterior margin of ferna. Pronotum 0.84 times as long as head and 1.37 times as wide as long; with weak transverse lines near anterior and posterior margins; major setae well developed, apices expanded; anteroangular setae (aa) slightly longer than anteromarginals (am), epimerals (ep) longer than posteroangulars (pa); notopleural sutures complete; basantral plates well-developed. Metanotum with reticulate sculpture, without discal setae near anterior margin; median setae well-developed, pointed; metathoracic sternopleural sutures absent. Mesopresternum complete, transverse and narrowed at middle. Fore wing slightly constricted at middle, with 6 duplicated cilia; wing basal setae not arranged in a row, well-developed, apices expanded, S3 longest. Fore tarsus with distinct tooth. Pelta hat-shaped. Tergite IX setae S1 and S2 shorter than tube, with blunt apices. Tube 0.8 times as long as head; anal setae shorter than tube.

Measurements (holotype male in microns). Body length 1720; head length 154, from anterior margin of eyes 148, width across eyes 145, across cheeks 151, across cheeks just before basal collar 126; eye length 72–75, width 43–45; postocular seta length 52–54; pronotum median length 130, width 208, length of major setae: aa 27–29, am 22–23, ml 27–30, pm 41–47; pa 48–54, epim 43; pelta length 76, width at base 118; antenna length 350, L(W) of antennal segments I 25 (32), II 43 (25), III 51 (25), IV 56 (29), V 49 (24), VI 43 (22), VII 40 (20), VIII 31 (9); fore femur width 74; fore wing length 707; basal setae length S1 39 –40, S2 36 –39, S3 87 –92; tergite IX length 70; setae S1 76 –82, setae S 2 30 –32; tube length 124, width at base 54, at apex 27; anal setae length 147–156.

Material studied. Holotype male, India, Karnataka, Bidadi, Kemchanakuppe, 24.ii.2011, grass clumps, Kaomud Tyagi (Reg. No. 5294/H17); paratypes, two males with same data as holotype (Reg. No. 5295/H17 to 5296/H17), deposited in National Zoological Collection of Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata.

Etymology. This species is named in honour of Dr. K. Venkataraman, Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata for his continuous effort to revamp taxonomy in India.

Comments. According to the key given by Okajima (1995), this new species is related to B. flavescens , sharing the long mouth cone, well-developed pronotal anteromarginal setae and basantral plates, fore wing with duplicated cilia. A paratype male and female of B. flavescens Okajima from Thailand has been studied, and the new species can be distinguished from flavescens by the yellow prothorax and median part of head, all femora yellow, antennal segment I yellow with brownish shade, II–III yellow; well-developed fore tarsal tooth and tergite IX setae S1 and S2 blunt. In contrast, flavescens has the head, thorax and tube brown, fore and mid femora bicoloured; antennal segment III yellow and remaining segments brown; fore tarsal tooth absent, tergite IX S1 setae expanded apically.

This new species is also similar to B. longirostris , B. malaya and B. sasa in sharing the long mouth cone which reaches to the ferna. It is distinguished from these three species by the colour of the body, anteromarginal setae, basantral plates and tergite IX S1 setae. The colour of the body of sasa is uniformly brown whereas bicoloured in longirostris , malaya and venkataramani . The anteromarginal setae are well developed in sasa and venkataramani and reduced in longirostris and malaya . Moreover, the basantral plates are well developed in venkataramani , but poorly developed in sasa and absent in longirostris and malaya . The tergite IX S1 setae are expanded in sasa and longirostris , but blunt in malaya and venkataramani .

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 6. Bamboosiella venkataramani sp. n., male. (1) Head and pronotum; (2) Tergites IX – X; (3) Prosternum; (4) Fore wing base; (5) Pelta; (6) Antenna.