Neohydatothrips mirandai (Johansen)

Lima, Élison Fabrício B. & Mound, Laurence A., 2016, Species-richness in Neotropical Sericothripinae (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), Zootaxa 4162 (1), pp. 1-45 : 33

Neohydatothrips mirandai (Johansen)

Sericothrips mirandai Johansen, 1981 [1979]: 169.

Female macroptera. Colour: body bicoloured, yellowish brown with head, pronotum, anterior areas of mesonotum and metanotum and abdominal tergites II–IV and VII–VIII brown, antennal segment I yellow, II pale, III pale with apex light brown, IV light brown with base and apical fourth brown, V light brown with base and apical third brown, VI–VIII brown, legs yellow except for median area of femora. Fore wings bicoloured with three pale bands, including apex.

Structure: Occipital apodeme not confluent with posterior margin of eyes, ocellar area apparently weakly striate; pronotum transversely reticulate with internal markings, pronotal blotch distinct; mesonotum transversely striate; metanotal striae transverse on anterior half, longitudinal on posterior half; metasternal plate with shallow emargination; comb of microtrichia incomplete on tergites II–V, with minute teeth on VI, with medium-sized teeth on VII and complete on VIII; tergite IX with 2 pairs of mid-dorsal setae.

Material studied. None.

Comments. This species was described from 2 females collected in Chiapas, Mexico . It has internal markings between the striae on the pronotum, similar to several Neotropical species of both Neohydatothrips and Hydatothrips . However, N. mirandai seems to be more closely related to N. tibialis , also described from Mexico and from which it is tentatively distinguished in the key above. The type specimens of N. tibialis are not well mounted, and the colour pattern might be the same as in N. mirandai , although in the original description the latter species is regarded to have abdominal tergites IX–X yellow, in contrast to the definitely brown tergites in N. tibialis . In the absence of further details on the type specimens of N. mirandai , this species is treated here as valid.