Teuchothrips ater (Girault, 1927)

Mound, Laurence A., Dang, Lihong & Tree, Desley J., 2023, Structural diversity among the leaf-feeding thrips of Australia in the genus Teuchothrips (Thysanoptera, Phlaeothripinae) with 20 new species, Zootaxa 5383 (4), pp. 441-475 : 443

Teuchothrips ater species-complex

This group includes leaf-rolling species that have been found on a wide range of unrelated plants, although ater is typically found on species of Pittosporum [ Pittosporaceae ]. The many specimens that are considered to represent ater are distinguished as such because the S1 setae on tergite IX are long with acute apices, and the maxillary stylets are close together and usually deeply retracted into the head. Despite this, some populations have been studied that are closely similar in structure to typical ater but have the stylets almost one-fifth, or even one-third, of the head width apart. These populations are treated in the final three couplets of the key below, together with badiipennis and disjunctus . Species recognition amongst these is problematical. It seems that badiipennis is associated with the common shrub Bursaria , although ater has also been found on the leaves of this plant, and some populations of ater have rather similar maxillary stylets to those of badiipennis . The species to which the name disjunctus is usually applied is often a pest on garden Callistemon shrubs, and this has the stylets almost one-third of the head width apart. However, populations that are rather similar in structure have been found leaf-rolling on several unrelated plant species. These populations are discussed further under the name disjunctus . The body colour amongst these species is constant, but body size is variable in both sexes, and major males may be considerably more robust than small males and females. In general, the lengths of setae and the form of their apices are not correlated with body size, although antennal segments III–IV tend to be relatively longer in males and also in larger individuals.