Holopothrips inconspicuus, Lindner & Ferrari & Mound & Cavalleri, 2018

Lindner, Mariana F., Ferrari, Augusto, Mound, Laurence A. & Cavalleri, Adriano, 2018, Holopothrips diversity-a Neotropical genus of gall-inducing insects (Thysanoptera, Phlaeothripidae), Zootaxa 4494 (1), pp. 1-99 : 44-46

Holopothrips inconspicuus sp. n.

( Figs 107–111 )

Diagnostic features. Body (except antenna) uniformly brown; head length and width subequal, with maxillary stylets V-shaped; one pair of long pronotal setae on epimeral region; metanotal sculpture very weakly defined to absent anteromedially; third pair of abdominal WR mostly absent; male without pore plates; female spermatheca enlarged medially.

Macropterous female: Body ( Fig. 107 ) uniformly light brown to almost yellow, with fore tibia and fore tarsi slightly lighter, tergite X slightly darker on basal half. Antennal segments I–II light brown, III–V yellow slightly shaded brown on apical half, VI light brown with extreme base yellow, VII–VIII light brown. Fore wings weakly shaded, almost hyaline on tip, without median dark line, clavus shaded; major body setae yellow.

Head ( Fig. 109 ) length and width behind eyes subequal, dorsal surface with very faint transverse lines of sculpture on posterior margin, smooth medially; cheeks straight to very weakly curved. Eyes well-developed, dorsal length about 0.4 of head length; po with capitate apex, slightly shorter than the dorsal width of the eye. Maxillary stylets V-shaped, not reaching po level and more than half of head width apart. Mouth cone mostly round, with a small pointed tip, not reaching the posterior margin of fore coxae. Antennal segments III and IV with 3 sense cones each.

Pronotum ( Fig. 109 ) trapezoidal with faint transverse lines of sculpture near posterior margin, surface smooth elsewhere; epimeral sutures incomplete and short. Five major pairs of pronotal setae, one pair on epimeral region; am reduced and with acute tip, aa, ml, ep and pa well-developed and with capitate tips. Basantra apparently faintly indicated in some observed specimens; prosternal ferna well-developed, close medially, sometimes touching each other. Mesonotum ( Fig. 108 ) apparently smooth medially, with very faint lines of sculpture laterally and anteriorly; internal markings on sculpture absent. Metanotum ( Fig. 108 ) with very faint or absent sculpture medially, longitudinal lines laterally, internal markings on sculpture absent; one to four anterior discal setae and one pair of median major setae present. Fore tarsal hamus not enlarged. Fore wings with 4 to 6 duplicated cilia.

Pelta ( Fig. 110 ) arcuated to almost bell-shaped, anterior margin rounded to straight, with lateral wings; paired campaniform sensilla present, but sometimes with a small seta in place of a sensilla. Sculpture present anteriorly but weaker medially and posteriorly; irregular elongated reticles, internal markings on sculpture absent. Tergite II with weak irregular reticles anteriorly, transverse lines laterally, faint or absent medially and posteriorly; sculpture less defined on further tergites. Third pair of wing retaining setae mostly absent, being observed only on tergite VII and sometimes on tergites V–VI. Tergite IX setae S1 and S2 with expanded apexes, S3 finely acute. Tube about 0.75 of head length and about 1.8 times as long as greatest width near base, apical width about 0.45 of basal width. Spermatheca ( Fig. 111 ) swollen medially.

Measurements (female holotype in microns): Length about 1639; head length 175, width behind eyes 187, po length 45, eye dorsal length 65; median length of pronotum 117, width across ep 240, am 7, aa 26, ml 40, ep 75, pa 50; width of mesonotum 230; fore wing length 590; tergite IX setae S1 115, S2 112, S3 137; tergite X length 132, basal width 72, apical width 35; length(width) of antennal segments III–VIII 60 (27), 50(27), 47(27), 47(25), 45(20), 25(10), respectively.

Macropterous male: Similar to female in both colouration and structure, but slightly smaller; sternites without pore plates.

Measurements (male paratype in microns): Length about 1442; head length 157, width behind eyes 165, po length 30, eye dorsal length 62; median length of pronotum 110, width across ep 220, am 9, aa 17, ml 32, ep 62, pa 49; width of mesonotum 220; fore wing length 560; tergite IX setae S1 100, S2 102, S3 140; tergite X length 117, basal width 70, apical width 30; length(width) of antennal segments III–VIII 52 (25), 39(27), 50(25), 47(22), 42(20), 26(10), respectively.

Material studied. Holotype female, Brazil, São Paulo, Bertioga, in Myrcia multiflora gall, 23.11.2005 (Maia, V.C.), at UFRGS. Slide code UFRGS 1147 .

Paratypes: 7 males and 9 females collected with holotype, at UFRGS . Brazil, Espírito Santo, Santa Teresa , 4 males and 6 females in Inga sp., 04.iv.2009 (Maia, V.C.), at UFRGS .

Etymology. Species named after its weakened/inconspicuous sculpture on head, meso- and metanotum.

Comments. Despite the absence of a third pair of WR in most abdominal tergites, this species has the usual sense cone formula of the genus, anterior discal setae on metanotum and female spermatheca visible ( Fig. 111 ). One of the defining traits of this species is having the sculpture on head, meso- and metanotum weak to absent medially ( Figs 108–109 ), while most Holopothrips species have the sculpture at least in meso- and metanotum well-defined. Another remarkable trait is the lack of pore plates in males, a character shared with only seven other species of the genus. Holopothrips inconspicuus is similar in some aspects to H. jaboticabae such as the short head, pelta with a slight constriction and third pair of WR frequently lacking, but H. jaboticabae has only two sense cones and well-defined metanotal sculpture. According to Maia et al. (2008), H. inconspicuus induces leaf-rolled galls in Myrcia multiflora.

Figures

FIGURES 107–111. Holopothrips inconspicuus sp. nov. holotype and paratypes. (107) body; (108) mesonotum and metanotum; (109) head and pronotum; (110) pelta; (111) spermatheca.