Teuchothrips Hood

Mound, Laurence A., 2008, Identification and host associations of some Thysanoptera Phlaeothripinae described from Australia pre- 1930, Zootaxa 1714, pp. 41-60 : 45-46

Teuchothrips Hood

Teuchothrips Hood, 1919: 86 . Type species Teuchothrips simplicipennis Hood , by original designation from six species.

Rather more than 40 species-group names have been associated with the generic name Teuchothrips , mostly from Australia. Five species from New Caledonia, and seven from India or Indonesia are currently listed under this genus ( Mound, 2008), but no attempt is made here to consider these non-Australian species. These thrips are members of the leaf-feeding Liothrips -lineage ( Mound & Marullo, 1996) of Phlaeothripinae, a group that is particularly species-rich in South East Asia and Australia. In the Australian National Insect Collection there are many similar-looking undescribed species that are often associated with various types of leaf deformations or galls ( Mound & Morris, 2007). Many of these species are likely to prove to be host specific, but without substantial and replicated samples it is not possible to interpret the patterns of variation in colour and structure that seem to exist within and between populations, including the presence of winged and wingless morphs.

The genus Teuchothrips is not distinguished satisfactorily from the worldwide genus Liothrips Uzel that includes over 250 species. Species in both genera have a single sensorium on the third antennal segment, and three (usually 3+1 but more rarely 2) sensoria on the fourth segment. The prosternum lacks basantra, there are no prominent setae laterally on the head, and on the ninth abdominal tergite of males the S2 pair of setae are shorter than the S1 pair. The only differences are that Teuchothrips species tend to have the eighth antennal segment short and broadly based, and at least one of the five pairs of pronotal major setae is not elongate, whereas Liothrips species have the eighth antennal segment longer and constricted basally, and all five pairs of pronotal major setae are elongate. Despite this, several of the Australian species currently in Teuchothrips have all five pairs of pronotal setae well developed, with the epimeral setae considerably longer than in other species listed in the genus. No attempt is made here to develop a revised generic classification, because that will require studies on many similar but undescribed Australian species. At present it seems possible that Teuchothrips might be restricted to a few species that resemble the type species in lacking duplicated cilia on the forewings.