Mystrothrips Priesner, 1949

Mound, Laurence A. & Tree, Desley J., 2018, Asia-Australia distribution patterns among species of Mystrothrips (Thysanoptera, Phlaeothripinae), with two new species, Zootaxa 4526 (3), pp. 347-357 : 348

Mystrothrips Priesner

Mystrothrips Priesner, 1949: 117 . Type species Sagenothrips dammermanni Priesner 1933 , by monotypy.

Diagnosis: Body and legs strongly reticulate; head with eyes globular or reduced to few facets, cheeks parallel or weakly constricted to base but sharply constricted behind eyes; postocular setae with apices expanded; paired postocellar and mid-dorsal setae present; maxillary stylets wide apart. Antennae 8-segmented, VIII constricted at base; III with 3, 2 or 0 sense cones, IV with 3 sense cones. Pronotum with 5 pairs of major setae, all capitate and usually short. Paired prosternal basantra usually weak or absent, ferna well-developed; mesopresternum varying, complete, reduced to two triangles, or absent; metathoracic sternopleural sutures absent (in all specimens studied here). Usually micropterous; if wings present then duplicated cilia absent. Pelta variable among species, usually transversely oval but sometimes with short lateral wings; tergites II–VII with 2 pairs of sigmoid wing-retaining setae present or absent; posteromarginal setal pair and posteroangular pair with apices broadly expanded; tergite IX setae S1 and S2 about 0.7 as long as tube with apices capitate; tube shorter than head, anal setae short. Male sternite VIII without pore plate.

Relationships: This genus belongs to a group of tropical litter-living Phlaeothripinae, often referred to as the Glyptothripini. However, that Tribe is inadequately diagnosed and is based essentially on the presence of surface reticulation ( Stannard 1955), a character state that is not constant within some included genera ( Mound 1976). There is great diversity amongst species of this group in the New World ( Mound 1977), but few species have been described from the Old World. The type species of Paramystrothrips Bournier , from Angola and Gabon, was described as having four sense cones on antennal segment IV, and also as having the prosternal basantra absent. This genus may well be a synonym of Iniothrips John , a genus based on a single female from East Africa that is lost ( Mound 1977). Three further species have been placed in Paramystrothrips , but these all have three sense cones on antennal segments IV, and they are here transferred to Mystrothrips . The original generic position of each of them was presumably determined by use of the key to genera provided by Mound (1977). However, that key was based on New World species, and distinguished Mystrothrips from Paramystrothrips by the presence of welldeveloped prosternal basantra. In contrast, all of the Old World species of Mystrothrips have basantra weak or absent. A further related genus is the monobasic Sagenothrips , based on a single female from Sumatra with longer antennae than Mystrothrips species but with the postocular setae unusually short. The generic relationships of Mystrothrips clavatoris from southern Brazil remain uncertain. As indicated below this species differs from the Asian members of the genus in several character states.