Podothrips antennatus, Okajima & Masumoto, 2025

Okajima, Shûji & Masumoto, Masami, 2025, Some Poaceae-inhabiting Phlaeothripinae (Thysanoptera, Phlaeothripidae) in East Asia, with descriptions of six new genera and 18 new species, Zootaxa 5726 (1), pp. 1-68 : 33-35

Podothrips antennatus sp. nov.

( Figs 116–124 )

Female (macroptera). Distended body length 1.9–2.2mm. Body bicolored ( Fig. 116 ). Head, thorax and tube brown, pleural areas of metathorax and tube darker but tube slightly yellow at base and apex; abdominal segments I– VII yellow; tergites III – VII each with an anteromedian brown marking, but paler on VII; tergite VI and VII often shaded at posterior angles; segment VIII yellow with posterior third brown, segment IX brown with anterior half yellow. Antennal segments I– VI brownish yellow but I and II slightly darker, V – VI with apices brown, VII – VII brown. All legs yellow. Fore wings pale slightly shaded at middle; major body setae pale. Head 1.1–1.2 times as long as wide ( Fig. 118 ), 1.15 times in holotype, widest just behind compound eyes, without lateral tooth. Cheeks rounded and weakly narrowed towards base, slightly constricted near base. Postocular setae short and pointed, 145µm apart from each other in holotype. Posterior ocelli relatively small, 66µm apart from each other in holotype. Antennal segment III with (0+1) sense cone, IV and V each with (1+1 +1) sense cones; segment VIII not narrowed at base. Ratio length/ width of antennal segments III – VIII ( Fig. 124 ) in holotype as followings: 2.0, 1.7, 2.1, 2.1, 2.5, 2.0. Maxillary stylet reaching postocular setae, their distance about 0.2 times as wide as width across cheeks. Pronotum ( Fig. 118 ) almost as long as wide, almost smooth and weakly sculptured along posterior margin and with a longitudinal line at middle; prothoracic setae relatively short, aa, ml and epim expanded at apex, pa pointed, epim the longest. Prosternum and mesopresternum typical of the genus ( Fig. 120 ). Metanotum almost smooth anteromedially; median pair of setae 58µm apart from each other, 78–80µm apart from anterior margin in holotype. Fore femora unarmed; fore tibial inner apical tooth distinct ( Fig. 121 ). Fore wings without duplicated cilia; three sub-basal setae short, S1 and S3 subequal in length, pointed, S2 expanded and the longest, but S1 rarely expanded at almost as long as S2 setae. Pelta hut-shaped ( Fig. 122 ). Abdominal tergite VIII S1 setae expanded at apex; tergite IX S1 and S2 setae pointed, S1 about 0.6 times as long as tube, S2 almost as long as tube. Tube ( Fig. 123 ) distinctly narrowed at basal fifth, gently tapered towards apex, constricted at apex, about 0.6 times as long as head, about 2.2 times as long as basal width; terminal setae 1.4–1.5 times as long as tube .

Measurements ( holotype female in µm). Body length about 2180 (distended). Head length 213, from anterior margin of eyes 195, width across eyes 175, maximum width across cheeks 185; eyes length 63; diameter of posterior ocelli 10; postocular setae 22–29. Maxillary bridge width 38. Antenna total length 350, segments III–VIII length (width) as followings: 45 (23), 48 (28), 53 (25), 48 (23), 50 (20), 30 (15). Pronotum length 215, width 218. Setae on prothorax: aa 18–20, ml 14–19, pa 14–25, epim 34–36. Fore wing length 740. Sub-basal wing setae: S1 9 –10, S2 15 –18, S3 15 –18. Pelta length 73, width 125. Tergite IX setae: S1 84, S2 128–133. Tube length 132, basal width 60; terminal setae 189–193.

Male (macroptera). Distended body length 1.4–1.7mm. Very similar to female in structure but smaller and paler. Body almost largely yellow ( Fig. 117 ), but slightly shaded along inner margin of compound eyes and pleural areas of metathorax, posterior third of abdominal segment IX brown, tube brown with base yellowish. Antennal segments I–VI yellow with apices of V–VI shaded, VII–VIII brown. Head ( Fig. 119 ) angular at cheeks just behind compound eyes, maxillary stylets not reaching postocular setae, their distance slightly wider than in female, about 0.2 times as wide as head.

Measurements ( paratype male in µm). Body length about 1410 (distended). Head length 178, from anterior margin of eyes 165, width across eyes 145, maximum width across cheeks 148; eyes length 60; diameter of posterior ocelli 10; postocular setae 18–20. Maxillary bridge width 45. Antenna total length 296, segments III–VIII length (width) as followings: 38 (23), 43 (24), 43 (21), 40 (20), 43 (18), 25 (13). Pronotum length 140, width 163. Setae on prothorax: aa 10–16, ml 10–11, pa 10–13, epim 30. Fore wing length 570. Sub-basal wing setae: S1 5, S2 9 –12, S3 10. Pelta length 58, width 85. Tergite IX setae: S1 43 –48, S2 40. Tube length 115, basal width 43; terminal setae 153–160.

Type material. Holotype: female, Thailand, nr. Kanchanaburi, on bamboo, 30.viii.1991, TN & SO . Paratypes: 23 females & 5 males collected together with holotype .

Comments. This species is very similar to P. bellatulus in female body color, but it can easily be distinguished from the latter species by the following features: antennal segments III and IV with (0+1) and (1+1 +1) sense cones respectively (those segments each with (1+1) sense cones in bellatulus ); head, thorax and abdominal segment VIII largely yellow in male (head, thorax and abdominal segment VIII largely brown in male in bellatulus ).

Figures

FIGURES 116–124. Podothrips antennatus sp. nov. (116) whole body, female; (117) whole body, male; (118) head and prothorax, female; (119) head, male; (120) prosternum, female; (121) fore tibia and tarsus, female; (122) pelta, female; (123) tube, female; (124) antenna, female.