Scirtothrips dodonaeae, Mound, Laurence A. & Stiller, Michael, 2011

Mound, Laurence A. & Stiller, Michael, 2011, Species of the genus Scirtothrips from Africa (Thysanoptera, Thripidae), Zootaxa 2786, pp. 51-61 : 55

Scirtothrips dodonaeae sp. n.

( Figs 11–16 )

Female macroptera. Body pale yellow, terga III–VII with antecostal ridge dark, sterna VI–VII with antecostal ridge faintly shaded; major setae on IX–X light brown; fore wings pale; compound eyes with no ommatidia pigmented; antennal segments I–III pale, IV–V light brown distally, VI–VIII light brown.

Antennal segments III–IV with short, stout forked sensoria. Vertex, including ocellar triangle, transversely striate ( Fig. 11 ), ocellar setae III just anterior to tangent between anterior margins of posterior ocelli. Pronotum striate, posteromarginal setae no more than 0.3 times as long as pronotum ( Fig. 11 ), setae S2 variable from sub-equal to more than 1.5 times as long as S1. Metanotum irregularly reticulate medially ( Fig. 12 ), median setal pair behind anterior margin. Fore wing first vein with 3 setae near base, then about 5 setae, with 3 widely spaced setae on distal half; second vein with 3 setae; clavus with 4 veinal and one discal setae; cilia strongly wavy near their apices. Terga II–IV with median setae minute ( Fig. 15 ); V–VI with 3 setae on lateral microtrichial field; VIII usually with one row of microtrichia anteromedially ( Fig. 16 ), IX with no microtrichia medially. Sterna with discal microtrichia rarely extending mesad to marginal setae S1 ( Fig. 14 ).

Measurements of holotype female in microns: Body length 1170. Head, length 75; width across eyes 140; postocular seta I 23. Pronotum, length 148; maximum width 170; posteromarginal setae S1 15, S2 25, S3 15. Forewing, length 640. Tergum IV median setae 5. Tergum VII median setae 12. Antennal segments III–VIII length 50, 45, 38, 40, 7, 12.

Male macroptera. Smaller and paler than female, tergal antecostal ridges scarcely shaded; tergum IX with pair of dark, upwardly curved, drepanae; hind femora with comb of 6–8 stout dark setae ( Fig. 13 ).

Material studied. Holotype female, SOUTH AFRICA, Pretoria, beaten from flushing Dodonaea viscosa , 11.x.2010 (A.T.Urban).

Paratypes: 22 females, 10 males collected with holotype.

Comments. Judging from the large samples collected into ethanol by Alan Urban, this species was abundant on stands of Dodonaea in the vicinity of Pretoria in the second half of 2010. It was also collected from D. viscosa in Zimbabwe, near Muswewenhede in Mashonaland, by Dr Tim Grout in August 1998 and identified at that time by L.A.M. as a new species. Specimens in the Faure collection labelled as from Dodonaea thunbergiana have now been identified as S. africanus , a species that was also represented in the samples from which the type series of S. dodonaeae was prepared. These two are similarly pale bodied, but females of S. dodonaeae can be distinguished by the transverse dark antecostal ridge on each tergum, and the fewer setae on the fore wing second vein. The males of S. dodonaeae are very similar to those of S. aurantii particularly because of the comb of stout setae on the hind femora, but males of S. aurantii usually have darker markings on the body, particularly medially on the abdominal terga. The only other known species of Scirtothrips in which males have a hind femoral comb is S. mugambii from Cedrus in Kenya.

Figures

FIGURES 11 – 16. Scirtothrips dodonaeae. (11) Head; (12) Meso and metanota; (13) Male hind femur; (14) Female sterna VI – VII; (15) Terga IV – V; (16) Terga VII – IX.