Drypetothrips, Mound & Wells, 2020

Mound, Laurence A. & Wells, Alice, 2020, Two new monobasic thrips genera for a gall-inducing species and its kleptoparasite (Thysanoptera, Phlaeothripinae), Zootaxa 4759 (3), pp. 421-426 : 422

Drypetothrips gen.n.

Macropterous or micropterous Phlaeothripinae ; head slightly longer than wide ( Fig. 2 ), with 2 pairs of long, capitate po setae, compound eyes equally large dorsally and ventrally; maxillary stylets wide apart and V-shaped, retracted about half-way to po setae. Antennae 8-segmented ( Fig. 4 ), III with 1 sense cone, IV with 3 sense cones; IV–VII each with narrow, parallel-sided pedicel. Pronotum with 5 pairs of major setae, am setae longer than aa setae, notopleural sutures complete; metanotum reticulate. Prosternal basantra absent, ferna irregularly sub-circular ( Fig. 5 ); mesopresternum weakly complete medially or reduced to pair of lateral triangles; metathoracic sternopleural sutures present. Fore femora stout, fore tarsal tooth as long as tarsal width. Fore wing parallel sided, with 3 capitate subbasal setae, without duplicated cilia. Pelta broadly triangular, wider than long ( Fig. 7 ), campaniform sensilla usually absent, sometimes replaced by a minute seta; tergites II–VII each with 2 pairs of weakly sigmoid wing-retaining setae placed laterally, posterior pair on each tergite unusually long; tergite VIII with posteromarginal and posteroangular setal pairs as long as median length of tergite; tergite IX setae S1 and S2 slightly shorter than tube, tube slightly longer than head ( Fig. 6 ). Male micropterous, similar to female microptera and with ocelli present; tergite IX setae S2 variable in length 0.5–1.0 as long as setae S1; sternite VIII with no pore plate.

Type species Drypetothrips korykis sp.n.

Comments. The general appearance and structure of the type species of this genus is remarkably similar to that of Kladothrips antennatus and its close relatives all of which live in pouch galls on the phyllodes of Acacia species ( Crespi et al. 2004). However, macropterae of Kladothrips species have duplicated cilia on the posterior margin of the fore wing, and also have only two sub-basal wing setae. Among Kladothrips species the postocular setae are usually short, and no member of that genus has two pairs of these setae. Similarly, Kladothrips species rarely have the pronotal anteromarginal setae longer than the discal setae, and on the abdomen the pelta is slightly longer than wide, and the tube shorter than the head. As indicated above, the structural similarities between this new species and K. antennatus may be correlated in some way with life in a tightly closed gall, rather than an indication of phylogenetic relationship. This gall on Drypetes deplanchei is very different ( Fig. 1 ) from the more open leaf-roll galls that are induced by several Teuchothrips species in Australia.

Figures

FIGURES 1–7. Drypetothrips korykis gen et sp. n. and galls. (1) Drypetes deplanchei leaf margin galls; (2) holotype head and pronotum; (3) meso and metanotum; (4) antenna; (5) prosternites; (6) tergite IX and tube; (7) pelta and tergites II–IV.