Dolichothrips Karny, 1912

Mound, Laurence A. & Okajima, Shûji, 2015, Taxonomic studies on Dolichothrips (Thysanoptera: Phlaeothripinae), pollinators of Macaranga trees in Southeast Asia (Euphorbiaceae), Zootaxa 3956 (1), pp. 79-96 : 81

Dolichothrips Karny

Dolichothrips Karny, 1912: 299 . Type species Dolichothrips longicollis Karny 1912 , by monotypy.

Membrothrips Bhatti, 1978: 226 . Type species Neoheegeria indica Hood, 1919 , by monotypy. Synonymised by Mound & Minaei, 2007: 2937.

A full diagnosis of this genus is provided by Okajima (2006) and also by Dang et al. (2014). All species that have been examined have three sense cones on the third antennal segment, the published claims that crassusensus and indicus have only two sense cones on this segment being incorrect. Bhatti (1978) proposed restricting Dolichothrips to species with extra sigmoid wing-retaining setae on the abdominal tergites ( Figs 26, 27 ), thus excluding indicus and related species ( Figs 23, 29 ). However, the new species franae described below from Hawaii sometimes has an extra pair of weakly sigmoid setae on tergite III ( Fig. 24 ), and the new species chikakoae described below from Sarawak has weakly curved extra setae on tergites II–VI ( Fig. 18 ). Moreover, reuteri often has additional setae that are straight but rarely sigmoid, and the presence of similar additional straight setae is variable within populations of indicus ( Figs 21–23 ). Bhatti also emphasised the short and weakly sclerotised pseudovirga of indicus , and concluded that this was fundamentally different from the more rigidly sclerotised pseudovirga of species that he retained in Dolichothrips . However, the weakly sclerotised pseudovirga of indicus does not seem to differ in structure fundamentally from the foreshortened pseudovirga of reuteri ( Fig. 33 ). It seems equally valid to interpret the structure of indicus as being at the extreme end of a range of pseudovirga structural variation, with macarangai having a longer but particularly slender structure ( Fig. 32 ), and even longicollis ( Fig. 31 ) and fialae ( Fig. 30 ) lacking the robust pseudovirga of typical Haplothripini such as species of the genus Haplothrips (see Minaei & Mound 2008).

Figures

FIGURES 17 – 33. Dolichothrips species. (17) eriae sp. n. fore leg; (18) chikakoae sp. n. pelta, tergites II – III; (19) crassusensus tergites II – IV; (20) fialae sp. n. pelta, tergites II – III; (21) indicus (nesius holotype) tergites II – III; (22) indicus Syntype tergites II – IV; (23) indicus from Mo’orea, pelta, tergites II – III; (24) franae sp. n. tergites II – III. Pelta and tergites II – III 25 – 29: (25) eriae sp. n.; (26) longicollis; (27) macarangai; (28) utae sp. n.; (29) reuteri. Male pseudovirga 30 – 33: (30) fialae sp. n.; (31) longicollis; (32) macarangai; (33) reuteri.