Haplothrips subtilissimus (Haliday)

Minaei, Kambiz & Mound, Laurence A., 2008, The Thysanoptera Haplothripini (Insecta: Phlaeothripidae) of Iran, Journal of Natural History 42 (41 - 42), pp. 2617-2658 : 2650-2654

Haplothrips subtilissimus (Haliday)

Phloeothrips subtilissimus Haliday 1852, p. 1100 .

This is one of the predatory species in which the tibiae are yellow at least at the apex. It is recorded from Iran on the basis of several specimens from various plants ( Minaei and Alichi 2001; Minaei 2002; Jalili Moghadam and Azemayeshfard 2004). In two males examined from England, one has the pronotal anteromarginal and posteroangular setae finely pointed, but the second has at least the anteromarginal setae weakly blunt; females taken with these males have these setae broadly blunt. This species is discussed above under H. kurdjumovi , to which it is closely similar.

Diagnosis

Body and legs dark brown, all tarsi and distal apex of all tibiae yellow; antennal segments III–VI yellow; major setae on head, pronotum and forewing shaded, not pale. Head with maxillary stylets 0.3–0.4 of head width apart; antennal segment III with one sensorium (cf. Figure 28 ). Postocular setae blunt, extending beyond posterior margin of eyes, shorter than eyes. Pronotum with five pairs of major setae, blunt or broadly blunt; anteromarginal setae as long as anteroangular setae; mesopresternum boat shaped ( Figure 12 ). Fore tarsal tooth apparently absent in female ( Figure 7 ), minute in male. Forewing with sub-basal setae S1, S2 capitate, S3 pointed; with 8–12 duplicated cilia. Tergite IX setae S1, S2 and S3 finely pointed, S1 on tergites VII–VIII pointed or finely pointed, blunt on the other tergites. Tube relatively short, length less than twice basal width. Males smaller, pronotal anteromarginal and posteroangular setae sometimes pointed, aedeagus apex like a more or less pointed spoon ( Figure 38 ).

Material examined

England: Surrey, Richmond Park , 1 ♀, 1 „ from Quercus sp. , 15.v.1984; 1 ♀, 1 „ from Quercus sp. , 30.v.1984 ; Surrey, Egham , 2 ♀ from Quercus sp. , 16.vi.2007 ( ANIC) .

Haplothrips tamaricinus Priesner

Haplothrips tamaricinus Priesner, 1939, p. 125 .

Described originally from ‘‘Sinai’’, this species was recorded from Iran by zur Strassen (1971). No specimens have been studied by the present authors, and the following diagnosis is based on Priesner (1939, 1965).

Diagnosis

Body dark brown; legs, including middle and hind tarsi dark, fore tibiae paler at apex, fore tarsi greyish-yellow to yellow; antennal segments I– II dark, III– VI yellowish-grey; VII – VIII dark, major setae on head pronotum and sub-basal wing setae pale or shaded at base. Head short, slightly wider than long in holotype with postocular setae about 24–30 mm, blunt; front ocellus surpassing fore margin of eyes, situated on a low hump on a level with interantennal projection, antennal segment III with two sensoria, interior one very small. Pronotal setae blunt or capitate, anteromarginal setae well developed, V – VI slightly truncate apically. Head with maxillary stylets 0.39–0.43 of head width apart, retracted to postocular setae. Mesopresternum eroded medially. Fore tarsi with very small tooth. Sub-basal wing setae capitate apically, six to eight duplicated cilia (cf. Figure 18 ). Pelta triangular. Tergite IX setae S1, S2 and S3 pointed. Tube short (cf. Figure 31 ) .

Haplothrips tritici Kurdjumov

Anthothrips tritici Kurdjumov, 1912, p. 1 .

This species is widespread across Europe, particularly eastern Europe, and extends south through Turkey to Iran and Iraq, and it is considered a major pest of cereal crops. The very considerable structural variation within and between populations of H. tritici in Iran is discussed elsewhere (Minaei and Mound in preparation), together with the significance of this variation in assessing the validity of the species H. cerealis Priesner.

Diagnosis

Body brown, fore tibiae yellow at apex, fore tarsi yellow; antennal segment III yellow or shaded yellow-brown but rarely as brown as IV; major setae on head, pronotum, forewings, and tergites pale, tergal and anal setae slightly shaded at base. Head with postocular setae pointed, rarely weakly blunt, long, extending beyond posterior margin of eyes but sometimes shorter and not extending so far; maxillary bridge about 0.3–0.4 of head width, usually retracted to postocular setae; antennal segment III with two sensoria (cf. Figure 27 ). Pronotum with five pairs of major setae, anteromarginals pointed, usually twice as long as discal setae and smaller than anteroangulars, but varying in length; anteroangulars usually pointed or finely pointed, rarely blunt, posteroangulars finely pointed, weakly blunt or blunt (pointed in males), epimeral setae usually blunt, sometimes weakly blunt or finely pointed, rarely broadly blunt (pointed or finely pointed in males). Fore tarsal tooth minute or conspicuous in females ( Figure 8 ), variable in size in small or large males ( Figure 9 ). Mesopresternum eroded medially ( Figure 13 ), metanotum very weakly reticulate medially (cf. Figure 17 ). Forewing with 3–10 duplicated (cf. Figure 18 ) cilia; subbasal setae S1 and S2 pointed, finely pointed or blunt (in males usually pointed), S3 pointed or finely pointed, rarely blunt (in males always pointed). Pelta usually triangular, rarely with small wings at base ( Figure 16 ). Tergite IX setae S1 usually blunt (cf. Figure 30 ), sometimes weakly blunt or finely pointed (in males usually pointed, rarely finely pointed or blunt), setae S1 on other tergites usually blunt, rarely finely pointed and sometimes variable on different tergites, tending to be more pointed on posterior than on anterior tergites (in males S1 on all tergites pointed or finely pointed). Male with pseudovirga spoon-shaped at apex, varying in width in four available males from 10–20mm ( Figure 47 ).

Material examined

Iran: Fars Province: Noorabad , 28 ♀, 5 „ from Triticum aestivum 5.iv.2002; Noorabad, 8 ♀, 6 „ from Triticum aestivum 23.iv.2005; Noorabad, 11 ♀, 4 „ from Triticum aestivum 18.iv.2005 ; Noorabad, 2 ♀ from Triticum aestivum 22.iii.2005; Noorabad, 6 ♀, 1 „ from Hordeum vulgare 22.iii.2005; Noorabad, 15 ♀, 8 „ from Hordeum vulgare 5.iv.2002 ; Noorabad, 12 ♀, 7 „ from Hordeum vulgare 31.iii.2006; Noorabad, 1 ♀ from Triticum aestivum 8.v.2006. Mazandaran Province: Pole-Moon, 28 ♀, 12 „ from Bromus sp. , 26.iv.2005; Ajoo (Noshahr), 2 ♀, 1 „ from Triticum aestivum , 10.v.2005 ; Versk, 1 ♀ from Hordeum vulgare 8.vii.2005. Tehran Province: Karaj, 22 ♀, 8 „ from Triticum aestivum 15.v.2005; Zarkan (Shahriyar), 37 ♀, 19 „ from Hordeum vulgare 3.v.2005 ; Pishva (Varamin), 47 ♀, 4 „ from Triticum aestivum 6.iv.2005; Shahed University, 5 ♀ from Hordeum murinum , 30.iv.2005; Varamin, 11 ♀, 1 „ from Hordeum vulgare 6.iv.2005; Karaj, 9 ♀, 10 „ from Bromus sp. , 20.v.2005 ; Meshkin-Dasht, 10 ♀, 5 „ from Triticum aestivum 12.v.2004; Mah-Dasht, 6 ♀, 2 „ from Triticum aestivum 2.vi.2006 ; Mah-Dasht, 3 ♀, 1 „ from Triticum aestivum 2.vi.2006; Pak-Dasht, 12 ♀, 1 „ from Triticum aestivum 12.iv.2005 ; Shahed University, 2 ♀ from Hordeum murinum 11.iv.2005; Karaj, 1 ♀, 1 „ from Hordeum vulgare 11.v.2004; Pak-Dasht, 1 ♀ from Hordeum spontaneum 12.iv.2005. Zanjan Province: Zanjan, 1 ♀ from Triticum aestivum 1991 . Iraq: Arbil, 2 ♀ from Triticum aestivum 9.iv.1964 ( ANIC). Kyrgyzstan: Bishkek, 5 ♀, 2 „ from Triticum aestivum 29.v.2001 ( ANIC) .

Haplothrips vuilleti Priesner

Haplothrips vuilleti Priesner, 1920, p. 81 .

Widespread in the flowers of various Fabaceae in Central and Southern Europe ( Priesner 1964), this species was recorded from Kermanshah Province in western Iran by Cheraghian (2000). No specimens of this species from Iran have been studied by the present authors, and the diagnosis below is based on literature and the specimens listed from Spain. The species is structurally similar to H. distinguendus , although they seem to have different host associations. In addition to the differences mentioned in the key, the pronotal setae are apparently longer in H. distinguendus than in H. vuilleti , and the number of duplicated cilia is greater in H. distinguendus .

Diagnosis

Body and legs dark brown, fore tarsi, antennal segment III and base of antennal segment IV yellowish; major setae on head, pronotum and forewings pale. Head with maxillary stylets about 0.7 of head width apart, not retracted to postocular setae; postocular setae acute, extending beyond posterior margin of eyes, a little shorter than eyes; antennal segment III with two sensoria (cf. Figure 27 ). Pronotum with five pairs of major setae, all softly pointed; mesopresternum boat shaped (cf. Figures 11– 12 ). Fore tarsal tooth minute in female, small but conspicuous in male. Forewing with seven to nine duplicated cilia (cf. Figure 18 ); sub-basal setae S1, S2 almost blunt with white tip, S3 pointed. Pelta more or less trapezoidal (cf. Figure 15 ); tergite IX setae S1, S2 and S3 acute, S2 at least 1.5 times as long as S1; setae S1 on other tergites pointed. Male pseudovirga slender, narrowly rounded at tip.

Material examined

Spain: Cadiz , near Zahasa; 1 „ from Genista triacanthos , 7.iii.1977; 1 ♀ from Cytisus baeticus , 19.iii.1977 ( ANIC) .

Acknowledgments

This work was carried out largely during a study visit to CSIRO Entomology, Canberra, Australia. The authors are particularly grateful to Richard zur Strassen, Senckenberg Museum, Frankfurt, for his frequent encouragement, scholarly advice and loan of specimens. Jon Martin, Natural History Museum, London, Ashley Kirk-Spriggs, Albany Museum, Grahamstown, South Africa, and Vince Lee, California Academy of Sciences, arranged loans from the collections in their care. William Kirk, Keele University, England, provided data concerning one of his publications, Jitendravir Bhatti, New Delhi, provided information about species in Iran from his unpublished catalogue, and Aurang Kavosi, Tehran University, sent to us in Canberra many Iranian references. The following two organizations provided assistance to the first author during field studies in Mazandaran Province, Iran, Tirtash Research and Education Center, and Kheyrood Kenar Research Station. Tymoor Ramac Masoomy, Tehran University, kindly identified plant species in Iran. Jamasb Nozari, Mehdi Saei Dehghan, Ali Kasaei and Hassan Nazari, Tehran University, provided help in field collecting,Vahid Hoseini Naveh, Tehran University, kindly collected H. kermanensis , and Peyman and Froud Minaei collected many specimens around Noorabad. Saeid Bagheri (Khuzestan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Centre) provide us with his unpublished data on Haplothrips species he had collected in Khuzestan Province.

Notes

1. Species included from descriptions; H. longipes and H. rabinovitchi are not included.

2. The following abbreviations are used for depositaries of material discussed in this paper: AMG – Albany Museum Grahamstown, South Africa; ANIC – Australian National Insect Collection, Canberra; BMNH – Natural History Museum, London; CAS – California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco; SMF – Senckenberg Museum, Frankfurt.

Figures

Figures 22–31. (22) Dolicholepta micrura female antenna; (23) Haplothrips distinguendus female antenna; (24) H. kermanensis female antenna; (25) H. maroccanus female antenna; (26) H. reuteri female antenna; (27) H. kermanensis female antennal segment III; (28) H. globiceps female antennal segment III; (29) H.?minutus female antennal segment III–IV; (30) H. leucanthemi female tergite IX and tube; (31) H. aculeatus female tergite IX and tube.

Figures 10–21. (10) Haplothrips globiceps female hind leg; (11) H. aculeatus female prosternum and mesopresternum; (12) H. subtilissimus female prosternum and mesopresternum; (13) H. tritici female prosternum and mesopresternum; (14) Neoheegeria dalmatica female prosternum and mesopresternum; (15) H. aculeatus female pelta; (16) H. tritici female pelta; (17) H. kermanensis female metanotum; (18–19) H. reuteri – 18: female forewing; 19: cilia at forewing apex; (20) Neoheegeria dalmatica female sub-basal wing setae; (21) H. globiceps female sub-basal wing setae.

Figures 1–9. (1) Dolicholepta micrura female head and prosternum; (2–3) Haplothrips kermanensis head and pronotum – 2: female; 3: male; (4) H. globiceps female head and pronotum; (5) H. ganglbaueri female fore leg; (6) H. maroccanus male fore leg; (7) H. subtilissimus female head and pronotum; (8–9) H. tritici fore leg – 8: female from Noorabad on barley; 9: male from Karaj on wheat.

Figures 35–48. Pseudovirga of Haplothripini. (35) Haplothrips andresi; (36) H. globiceps; (37) H. phyllophilus; (38) H. subtilissimus; (39) Dolicholepta micrura; (40) H. aculeatus; (41) H. flavicinctus; (42) H. ganglbaueri; (43) H. kermanensis; (44) H. leucanthemi; (45) H. minutus; (46) H. reuteri; (47) H. tritici; (48) Neoheegeria dalmatica.