Heligmothrips erinaceus (Karny)

Mound, Laurence A., Tree, Desley J. & Wells, Alice, 2022, Convoluted maxillary stylets among Australian Thysanoptera Phlaeothripinae associated mainly with Casuarinaceae trees, Zootaxa 5190 (3), pp. 301-332 : 320-321

Heligmothrips erinaceus (Karny)

( Fig. 52 )

Trichothrips erinaceus Karny, 1920: 41 ; 1924: 26 ( Figs 32–33 ).

Teuchothrips fuscipennis Moulton, 1968: 100 .

Karny described this species from a single female taken at Cedar Creek, Queensland, a locality within the Mt Tamborine Park just south of Brisbane. The five-line description gave no useful details, and his completed account in 1924 of the Thysanoptera from the Mjoberg expedition to Australia provided images of the whole body and antenna but no description. The unique specimen was subsequently slide-mounted but is in a seriously damaged condition. Moulton described fuscipennis from the holotype female taken at Liverpool (Sydney) in New South Wales, and three paratype females from Bribie Island, Queensland. The holotypes of both species were restudied and described by Mound (1970), who compared them to specimens taken from various sites in eastern Queensland and New South Wales. Antennal segment III is relatively slender and mainly yellow, but the pronotal setae are strongly shaded. In males the anteroangular pronotal setae are much longer than in females. The maxillary stylets cross over each other usually anterior to the postocular setae. They re-cross each other at the posterior of the head often through a sharp right-angle, before producing a complex set of loops posterolaterally ( Fig. 52 ). However, in most character states erinaceus is very similar to gracilior , a species that is distinguished only by the pale pronotal setae and the maxillary stylets arranged more irregularly into large loops.

Specimens studied. Australian Capital Territory: Mt Majora , 2 small males from Allocasuarina verticillata , 24.iv.1995 . New South Wales: Batemans Bay , from Casuarina glauca , 1 male, 16.ii.1961 ; 4 females, 6 males, 20.xi.1994 ; 6 females, 6 males, 7.xii.1996; 7 females, 5 males, 1.vi.2022; Tarago 20km East, 2 females on A. littoralis , 11.ix.2021 ; Gosford , 1 female form Casuarina , 20.xi.1994 ; Pottsville , 2 females from C. glauca , 3.ix.2009 . Queensland: Mt Malloy 25km north, 4 females, 6 males from Casuarina , 6.vii.1995 ; Atherton 10km north, 3.v.1964 ; Carnarvon Station, Blue Water Springs , 3 females from Casuarina , 9.x.2014 ; Brisbane, The Gap , from Casuarina , 1 male, 30.xii.2006 , 3 females, 30.x.2007 ; Mt Glorious 15km west, Red Cedar Park , 3 females from Casuarina , 13.x.2006 ; Brisbane, Bardon , 1 female from Casuarina , 27.vii.2012 ; Noosaville , 1 female, 1 male from C. equisetifolia , 20.ix.2009 . South Australia: Kangaroo Island, Stokes Bay , 1 female from Allocasuarina verticillata , 30.xi.2021 .

Figures

FIGURES 51–59. Heligmothrips species heads and stylets. (51) brevidens; (52) erinaceus; (53) gracilior; (54) eiletus; (55) eiletus larva; (56) exallus; (57) macropus; (58) narrabri; (59) xantoskelus.

FIGURES 28–39. Adrothrips prosternites and abdomen. (28) cotteri; (29) latrarei; (30) lihongae; (31) vernoni; (32) akanthus; (33) aureus; (34) cotteri; (35) intermedius; (36) mitchelli; (37) systenus; (38) vernoni; (39) westoni.