Frankliniella veracrucensis sp.n.

(Figs 1 –12)

Female macroptera. Body colour (after maceration) yellow including legs and tergites (Fig.1). Fore wings weakly shaded brown (Fig.11). Antennal segment I white yellowish, II yellow brownish, remaining segments dark brown, III paler in the middle and basal part, IV–V paler at base (Fig. 4); major setae of head and pronotum dark brown (Fig. 2).

Head (Fig. 2) with ocellar setae III arising between the two parallel tangents of the anterior and posterior ocelli; postocular setae I present, III exceptionally long. Antennal segment III pedicel short but surmounted by an enlarged collar like an inverted cone, scarcely 1.5 times as wide as pedicel (Fig. 3); VI constricted at base. Pronotum with 2 pairs of anteromarginal (am) minor setae. Metanotal campaniform sensilla present (Fig. 5). Fore wing clavus with 5 veinal and 1 discal seta. Tergites with two faint lines of sculpture anteromedially, but none posteromedially; IV with ctenidia well developed; comb on VIII well developed with microtrichia long on triangular bases, median teeth about as long as median setae of tergite VI (Fig. 7); tergite IX setae S1 1.5 time as long as tergite X (Fig. 10).

Measurements (holotype female in microns). Body length 1295. Head, length 94; width 141; ocellar setae III 52; postocular setae III45. Pronotum, 127; width 141; major setae, anteromarginal (am) minor 18, am 65, anteroangular (aa) 87, pm I 18, posteromarginal (pm) II 42, pm VI 88, pm VIII 88. Metanotum setae, lateral 43, median 88. Fore wing length 780. Tergite VIII comb median teeth length 13. Tergite IX length 62, setae B1 103. Tergite X, length 60, setae B1 98. Antennal segments I–VII length 27, 37, 54, 36, 32, 45, 17.

Male macroptera. Similar to female in colour and structure (Figs. 8 and 12); sternites III–VII each with a long and oval pore plate (Fig. 9).

Measurements (paratype male in microns). Body length 1071. Head, length 95; ocellar setae III 53. Sternite V pore plate length 52, width 7.

Material studied. Holotype female, Mexico, Veracruz, Coatepec, cloud forest on flowers of Salvia leucantha, 12.V.2014 (Arturo Goldarazena) [Institut Royal des sciences naturelles de Belgique, Bruxelles, Belgium IRSNBIG 33.339/001] . Paratypes: 2 females and 3 males collected with holotype [IRSNBIG 33.339/002].

Comments. This new species is unique in the combination of the following character states: Body yellow, antennae 7-segmented, ocellar setae III well developed on the anterior margins of the ocellar triangle, pronotum with two pairs of very long setae on anterior margin (anteroangulars and anteromarginals), metanotum with campaniform sensilla, and tergite VIII with complete comb of long microtrichia.

Despite sharing the unusual condition within the genus Frankliniella of 7-segmented antennae, there is no evidence that the four species considered here form a single clade. F. jamaicensis is particularly distant; it is a member of the minuta Group, with the chaetotaxy of the head and pronotum (Sakimura & O’Neill 1979: Fig. 4 c) very similar to that of minuta (Moulton) . The two species, aztecus and georgiensis, are similar to each other in head shape, but they differ from each other in cephalic and metanotal chaetotaxy, thus are possibly not closely related. If the number of antennal segments is ignored, then the new species described here, veracrucensis, is more similar to F. pasta and F. altura from Costa Rica, according to the descriptions in Mound and Marullo (1996). These Frankliniella species with a reduced number of antennal segments have been collected only in the Meso- American and Caribean areas; none have been recorded from the Neotropics despite the richness of the tropical fauna.