Apterygothrips australis Pitkin, 1973

Mound, Laurence A. & Minaei, Kambiz, 2007, Australian thrips of the Haplothrips lineage (Insecta: Thysanoptera), Journal of Natural History 41 (45 - 48), pp. 2919-2978 : 2937-2938

Apterygothrips australis Pitkin

Apterygothrips australis Pitkin 1973, p 328 .

This is a common species in grasses that is widespread across southern Australia, having been taken near Brisbane , Sydney , Canberra, Adelaide, and Perth. Pitkin (1973) refers to two macropterous females out of a total of 71 specimens examined, but pointed out that some micropterous individuals have the tergal wing-retaining setae more or less developed .

Recognition

Usually micropterous, wing lobe less than 0.25 of thorax width; colour light brown, antennal segment III and all tarsi yellow; antennal segment III with one sensorium, IV with two; head with maxillary stylets not retracted to postocular setae, about one-third of head width apart; postocular setae capitate, also all five pronotal setae, one sub-basal wing seta, and setae S1 and S2 on tergite IX; fore tarsus with small tooth.

Dolichothrips Karny

Dolichothrips Karny 1912, p 299 . Type species: Dolichothrips longicollis Karny. Membrothrips Bhatti 1978, p 226 . Type species: Neoheegeria indica Hood, 1919 . syn. n.

The genus Membrothrips was erected for a single species, and the Australian species discussed below was added subsequently. The genus was differentiated from the South- East Asian genus Dolichothrips because of the absence of additional pairs of sigmoid setae lateral to the two pairs of tergal wing-retaining setae, and also because the pseudovirga of the male genitalia is not slender. The first of these character states appears to be related to body size, and the second fails to take into account the variation in male genitalia amongst Haplothripini that are not associated with flowers. M. indicus has not been re-examined for this paper, but M. reuteri is essentially similar in structure and colour to Dolichothrips macarangae Moulton that lives on Macaranga tanarius in Taiwan. The differences between them in tergal chaetotaxy appear to be related to the differences in their body size. All of the D. reuteri specimens collected from Macaranga in Australia are much smaller than those collected from this plant in Taiwan. These smaller specimens all lack the additional tergal sigmoid setae that are present in the Taiwan specimens. Moreover, the species that is known to pollinate Macaranga species in Asia ( Moog et al. 2002), and was referred to as ‘‘ Neoheegeria sp. ’’, varies considerably in size, and the larger individuals have additional sigmoid setae on the tergites but not the smaller specimens from the same series. The genus Dolichothrips is closely related to the genus Mesothrips , although the species of one live in flowers and buds, whereas the species of the second live in galls.

Recognition

Dark brown species with little sexual dimorphism; antennae eight-segmented, III with three sensoria, IV with four; head longer than wide, postocular setae acute, mouth cone pointed and extending between fore coxae ( Figure 3 ); fore tarsus with tooth minute in female, larger in male; fore wing constricted medially, with duplicated cilia; basantra well developed, mesopresternum forming two triangles; metanotum weakly reticulate; tergites usually with additional pairs of wing-retaining setae lateral to the two major pairs; tergite IX setae long and acute.

Figures

Figures 1–15. (1) Bagnalliella nigricoxae, holotype. (2) Dyothrips pallescens, pronotum. (3) Dolichothrips reuteri, mouth cone. (4) Androthrips monsterae, fore femora. (5) Priesneria peronis, antenna. (6) Karnyothrips melaleucus, head, pronotum, and fore legs. (7) Euoplothrips bagnalli, fore legs of small and large males. (8) Mesothrips jordani, head. (9) Haplothrips acaciae, head and pronotum. (10) H. anceps, head, pronotum, and right fore leg. (11) H. acaciae, pelta. (12) H. anceps pelta. (13) H. angusi pelta. (14) H. avius, head. (15) H. angusi, prosternites.