Oelschlaegera ferdowsii, Fekrat, Lida, Hosseininejad, Marziyeh, Derakhshan, Ali & Minaei, Kambiz, 2016

Fekrat, Lida, Hosseininejad, Marziyeh, Derakhshan, Ali & Minaei, Kambiz, 2016, Grass-thrips of the genus Oelschlaegera (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), with the first description of a male, Zootaxa 4105 (3), pp. 296-299 : 297-299

Oelschlaegera ferdowsii sp.n.

Female macroptera. Body colour brown, thorax yellowish brown, lighter than head, abdomen paler than thorax, tarsi yellow also fore tibiae distally; antennal segment III yellowish brown; fore wings weakly shaded; major body setae as well as fore wing setae pale ( Fig. 1 ).

Antennal segment I neither with dorsal transverse ridge nor with median dorsal apical setae. Antennal segment II produced laterally ( Fig. 2 ), lateral process with a rather pronounced apex, anterior margin straight. Sense cones on segments III–IV simple and slender ( Fig. 2 ). Segments VII and VIII almost sub equal in length.

Head distinctly produced in front of eyes ( Figs 3, 4 ); eyes with 5 pigmented facets. Lateral margin of vertex long, about as long as compound eye; vertex with 15–25 pairs of short conical setae. Three pairs of ocellar setae and four pairs of postocular setae present; postocular setae not stout. Ocellar setae posterolateral to fore ocellus. Mouthcone shorter than head, broadly rounded apically, maxillary palps 3-segmented.

Pronotum trapezoidal ( Fig. 4 ), with two pairs of short posteroangular setae, sculptured with transverse lines, with at least 15 pairs of conical setae which are shorter than those on the head; Prosternum with basantra membranous, setae absent; ferna divided, indistinct. Mesonotum sculptured with transverse lines, lines with 5–10 pairs of short conical setae; anteromedian campaniform sensilla farther apart than submedian setae; submedian setae far anterior of posterior margin. Mesosternum with 15–20 pairs of short conical setae ( Fig. 5 ). Mesosternal furcal invaginations approximated. Meso and metasternal furca without spinula ( Fig. 5 ) Metanotum weakly sculptured with transverse lines; submedian setae slightly shorter than lateral setae, campaniform sensilla present. Fore legs enlarged, fore tibia prolonged around the external margin of the fore tarsus ( Fig. 4 ). Tarsi 2-segmented. Fore wings rather straight, anterior fringe cilia wavy; scale with 4 or 5 marginal and 1 discal setae.

Abdominal tergites I–VIII without conical setae, with posteromarginal craspedum ( Fig. 6 ), VIII without comb ( Fig. 7 ); median campaniform sensilla on II–VIII far anterior of median setae; campaniform sensilla anterior to median setae; tergite IX slightly shorter than X; segment X conical, with longitudinal split. Ovipositor relatively short, with teeth. Sternites with sculpture transverse, reticulated, without discal setae and pore plates. Posterior margin with small rounded craspedate lobes ( Fig. 8 ), sternite II with two pairs of posteromarginal setae, III–VII with three pairs.

Measurements (in microns) Body length 1867. Head, length 148; width across eyes 142. Pronotum, length 238; maximum width 278. Fore wing, length 873; median width 73. Tergite IX S1 setae 93. Antennal segments I–VIII, 20, 30, 36, 33, 24, 33, 8, 11.

Male aptera. Similar to female ( Fig. 9 ); Antennal segment II not produced laterally, almost symmetrical ( Fig. 10 ). Sternites III–VII each with an oval pore plate ( Fig. 11 ).

Measurements (in microns) Body length 1533. Head, length 110; width across eyes 93. Pronotum, length 178; maximum width 216. Antennal segments I–VIII, 20, 24, 28, 27, 20, 23, 10, 9.

Material studied. Holotype female, Razavi Khorasan province, Haft Howz, from Phragmites sp. ( Poaceae ), 13.ix.2015 (Marziyeh Hosseininejad) (in BMNH).

Paratypes: 1 female taken with holotype; same locality and plant, 25.x.2014, 2 males (Marziyeh Hosseininejad) (one male in BMNH, one female and one male in PPSU).

Comments. This new species is included in Oelschlaegera due to the presence of many conical setae on the head, mesonotum and metanotum. However, O. ferdowsi does not fit completely with the available generic diagnoses ( Bhatti 1990; Nakahara & Foottit 2012), because the abdominal tergites do not have conical setae. Moreover, the fore tibiae of this species are relatively prolonged around the external margin of the fore tarsus, as in some species of Arorathrips , and the mesosternal furcal invaginations are approximated as in Arorathrips species. However, the first antennal segment is not enlarged as in members of that genus. Arorathrips is a New World genus, and it seems probable that Oelschlaegera is from the Ethiopian zoogeographic region (Laurence Mound, in litt, 2016). Sex differences in the shape of the second antennal segment have also been reported previously in some Chirothrips species, as well as in Unilobotus cornuatus (see Nakahara & Foottit 2012).

Etymology. The species is named in honor of Abu’l-Qāsem Ferdowsi . Ferdowsi (935–1025 CE) was a highly revered Persian poet and the author of the epic of Shahnameh (the Persian "Book of Kings"), which is the world's longest epic poem created by a single poet, and the national epic of Iran and the Persian-speaking world.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 8. Oelschlaegera ferdowsii Female: (1) Adult (2) Antenna (3) Head (4) Head, fore leg and pronotum (5) Mesosternum (6) Abdominal tergites II – IV (7) Abdominal tergites VIII – X (8) Abdominal sternites IV – V.

FIGURES 9 – 11. Oelschlaegera ferdowsii Male: (9) Adult (10) Head, antenna and fore leg (10) Abdominal sternites III – VI.