Podothrips abdominalis, 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 : 32-33

Podothrips abdominalis sp. nov.

( Figs 108–115 )

Female (macroptera). Distended body length 2.2–2.6mm. Body bicolored ( Fig. 108 ). Head and abdominal segments VII–X brown, thorax yellow with pleural areas of metathorax shaded, abdominal segments I–VI yellow with an anteromedian brown marking on each tergites III–VI. Antennal segment I brown, II brown with apex yellowish, III–VI yellow with distal half of V–VI shaded, VII–VIII brown; all legs yellow. Fore wings pale, slightly shaded at middle; major body setae pale. Head about 1.3 times as long as wide ( Fig. 109 ), widest just behind compound eyes, without lateral tooth. Cheeks weakly rounded and weakly narrowed towards base, often with an indistinct small tooth just behind eyes, slightly constricted near base. Postocular setae short and brunt at apex, 156µm apart from each other in holotype. Posterior ocelli 65µm apart from each other in holotype. Antennal segment III with (1+1) sense cones, segment IV and V each with (1+1 +1) sense cones; antennal segment VIII slightly constricted at base. Ratio length/width of antennal segments III–VIII ( Fig. 115 ) in holotype as followings: 2.1, 2.1, 2.4, 2.4, 2.8, 2.9. Maxillary stylet reaching near postocular setae, their distance about 0.3 times as wide as width across cheeks. Pronotum ( Fig. 109 ) a little shorter than wide, about 0.95 times as long as wide in holotype, almost smooth and weakly sculptured along posterior margin and with a longitudinal line at middle. Prothoracic setae short, aa and epim expanded, ml blunt, pa pointed, epim the longest (right one short and pointed in holotype). Prosternum and mesopresternum typical of the genus ( Fig. 112 ). Metanotum almost smooth medially; median pair of setae 43µm apart from each other, 84–87µm apart from anterior margin. Fore femora unarmed; fore tibial inner apical tooth distinct ( Fig. 111 ). Fore wings with duplicated cilia, rarely only one cilium; three sub-basal setae short, S1 setae expanded and the longest, S2 setae pointed, S3 setae pointed and longer than S2. Pelta hut-shaped ( Fig. 113 ). Abdominal tergite VIII with S1 setae bluntly expanded; tergite IX S1 and S2 setae pointed, S1 about 0.7 times (missing at distal parts of both S 1 in holotype) and S2 about 1.2 times as long as tube. Tube ( Fig. 114 ) distinctly narrowed at basal fifth, almost straight-sided, gently constricted at apex, 0.56 times as long as head in holotype, about 2.2 times as long as basal width; terminal setae 1.7–1.8 times as long as tube.

Measurements ( holotype female in µm). Body length about 2370 (distended). Head length 250, from anterior margin of eyes 225, width across eyes 188, maximum width across cheeks 193; eye length 75; diameter of posterior ocelli 15; postocular setae 19–23. Maxillary bridge width 60. Antenna total length 408, segments III–VIII length (width) as followings: 58 (28), 58 (28), 60 (25), 55 (23), 55 (20), 38 (13). Pronotum length 213, width 230. Setae on prothorax: aa 14–15, ml 8–12, pa 19–23, epim 20–43. Fore wing length 850. Sub-basal wing setae: S1 15 –20, S2 10 –11, S3 15. Pelta length 90, width 113. Tergite IX setae: S1?, S2 163–168. Tube length 140, basal width 65; terminal setae 243–250.

Male (macroptera). Distended body length 1.6–2.1mm. Body color and structures similar to female but smaller, abdominal tergite VII slightly pale at middle. Maxillary stylet not reaching postocular setae ( Fig. 110 ), their distance wider than that of female, about 0.3 times as wide as head.

Measurements ( paratype male in µm). Body length about 2050 (distended). Head length 215, from anterior margin of eyes 198, width across eyes 173, maximum width across cheeks 178; eye length 75; diameter of posterior ocelli 13; postocular setae 22–26. Maxillary bridge width 40. Antenna total length 389, segments III–VIII length (width) as followings: 55 (25), 58 (28), 58 (25), 53 (23), 51 (19), 38 (11). Pronotum length 190, width 213. Setae on prothorax: aa 15–16, ml 8–10, pa 18, epim 38–43. Fore wing length 780. Sub-basal wing setae: S1 18 –19, S2 15, S3 15 –18. Pelta length 83, width 105. Tergite IX setae: S1 66–74, S2 43. Tube length 128, basal width 53; terminal setae 218–235.

Type material. Holotype: female, Borneo , East Malaysia , Sabah , nr. Keningaw, Taman Bunsit, on bamboo, 2. ix.1991, TN & SO . Paratypes: 1 female and 4 males collected together with holotype. Vietnam , 1 female, Tuyen Quang Province, Ham Yan Distr., Tan Lap , Lam Truong, on bamboo, 19.viii.2000 , SO; 3 females, Nghe An Prov., Aanh Son District , Cao Son, on bamboo, 9.viii.2007 , SO; 1 female, Thai Nguyen Province, on bamboo, 22.viii.2000 ; 1 female, Hoa Binh Province, Hoa Binh, on bamboo, 6.iii.2000 , SO; 3 females, Bac Can Province, Ba Be National Park , on bamboo, 2.viii.2000 , SO; Lam Dong Province, Bao Loc, Dam Bri, on bamboo , 1 female, 26.xii.2001. 2 females, 27.xii.2001, 10 females and 2 males, 28.xii.2001, SO.

Comments. This species is very similar to P. flavipes sp. nov. described below from Thailand in body color. It has abdominal segment VII brown and the fore wings with duplicated cilia, whereas flavipes has abdominal segment VII yellow with an anteromedian brown marking and the fore wings without duplicated cilia. The specimens from Vietnam have S1 and S2 setae on abdominal tergite IX somewhat shorter. P. semiflavus is also somewhat similar to this species but can easily be distinguished by having abdominal segment VII brown, antennal segment IV with (1+1 +1) sense cones, and the fore wing with duplicated cilia.

The body color of this species is very similar to that of P. canizoi from India ( Bhatti 1978). However, canizoi has a pair of distinct teeth on the cheeks behind the compound eyes, and is not so closely related to this species. It is probably more closely related to P. erami from Iran than to all bicolored Podothrips species distributed in East Asia ( Minaei 2015).

Figures

FIGURES 108–115. Podothrips abdominalis sp. nov. (108) whole body; (109) head and prothorax, female; (110) head, male; (111) fore tibia and tarsus, female; (112) prosternum and mesopresternum, female; (113) pelta, female; (114) tube, female; (115) antenna, female.