Podothrips gracilicornis, 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 : 43-44

Podothrips gracilicornis sp. nov.

( Figs 162–169 )

Female (macroptera). Distended body length 2.1–2.5mm. Body bicolored ( Fig. 162 ). Head, prothorax and abdominal segments VIII –X brown; pterothorax yellow with pleural areas shaded with brown; abdominal segments I– VII yellow, tergites III – VII each with an anteromedian brown marking, but paler on VII. All legs yellow. Antennal segment I brown, II brown with apex paler; III – VI yellow, apices of V – VI shaded; VII – VIII brown. Fore wings pale, slightly shaded with brown at middle; major body setae pale. Head 1.3 times as long as wide ( Fig. 163 ), 1.31 times in holotype, widest just behind compound eyes, without lateral tooth. Cheeks slightly rounded and weakly narrowed towards base, slightly constricted near base. Postocular setae short and pointed, 156µm apart from each other in holotype. Posterior ocelli relatively large, almost as large as anterior one, 67µm apart from each other in holotype. Antennal segment III with (1+1) sense cones; segments IV and V each with (1+1 +1) sense cones; segment VIII elongate, not constricted at base, tapered at distal half ( Fig. 168 ). Ratio length/width of antennal segments III – VIII ( Fig. 169 ) in holotype as followings: 2.3, 2.1, 2.7, 2.5, 2.9, 3.3. Maxillary stylet reaching postocular setae, their distance about 0.2 times as wide as width across cheeks. Pronotum ( Fig. 163 ) about 0.9 times as long as wide, 0.93 times in holotype, almost smooth and weakly sculptured along posterior margin, with a longitudinal line at middle; aa, ml and pa pointed, epim expanded and the longest. Prosternum and mesopresternum typical of the genus ( Fig. 165 ). Metanotum almost smooth medially; median pair of setae 57µm apart from each other, 77–82µm apart from anterior margin in holotype. Fore femora unarmed; fore tibial inner apical tooth weak ( Fig. 164 ). Fore wings usually with 1–3 duplicated cilia (only one at left in holotype); sub-basal wing setae short and acute, at most blunt. Pelta hut-shaped ( Fig. 166 ). Abdominal tergite VIII S1 setae blunt or pointed; tergite IX S1 and S2 setae pointed, S1 0.7 –0.8 times as long as tube, S2 about 1.5 times as long as tube. Tube ( Fig. 167 ) slightly narrowed at basal fifth, straight-sided, weakly tapered to apex, 0.5 times as long as head, about 2.2 times as long as basal width; terminal setae1.6–1.8 times as long as tube .

Measurements ( holotype female in µm). Body length about 2340 (distended). Head length 260, from anterior margin of eyes 238, width across eyes 193, maximum width across cheeks 198; eyes length 90; diameter of posterior ocelli 15; postocular setae 28–34. Maxillary bridge width 48. Antenna total length 415, segments III–VIII length (width) as followings: 63 (28), 58 (28), 63 (23), 53 (21), 53 (18), 43 (13). Pronotum length 213, width 230. Setae on prothorax: aa 13–16, ml 14–18, pa 21–23, epim 43. Fore wing length 830. Sub-basal wing setae: S1 15 –18, S2 12 –14, S3 15 –18. Pelta length 75, width 110. Tergite IX setae: S1 92–98, S2 194–197. Tube length 130, basal width 60; terminal setae 213–231.

Male. Unknown.

Type material. Holotype: female, Thailand, nr. Chiang Mai, on bamboo, 24. viii.1992, TN & SO . Paratypes: 2 females collected together with holotype ; 1 female, nr. Chiang Mai, Doi Suthep , on bamboo, 2.ix.1992, SO .

Comments. This species is described from Thailand based on four females. It is very similar to P. flavipes sp. nov. described above also from Thailand, but it can be distinguished from flavipes by the following features: prothorax brown; fore wing usually with duplicated cilia (without duplicated cilia in flavipes ); sub-basal wing setae S1 and S2 pointed, at most blunt, not expanded; fore tibia with weak inner sub-apical teeth (with distinct sub-apical teeth in flavipes ). P. odonaspicola from Japan is also very similar to this species in having the body color pattern similar and the fore wing duplicated cilia present, but it has antennal segment IV with (1+1) sense cones, the fore tibiae without distinct inner apical tooth and the fore femora largely brown with apical one-third yellowish. Moreover, antennal segment VIII of gracilicornis is longer and more slender.

Figures

FIGURES 162–169. Podothrips gracilicornis sp. nov., female. (162) whole body; (163) head and prothorax; (164) fore tibia and tarsus; (165) prosternum and mesopresternum; (166) pelta; (167) tube; (168) antennal segment VIII; (169) antenna.