Holopothrips varicolor, Lindner & Ferrari & Mound & Cavalleri, 2018

Lindner, Mariana F., Ferrari, Augusto, Mound, Laurence A. & Cavalleri, Adriano, 2018, Holopothrips diversity-a Neotropical genus of gall-inducing insects (Thysanoptera, Phlaeothripidae), Zootaxa 4494 (1), pp. 1-99 : 91-93

Holopothrips varicolor sp. n.

( Figs 276–283 )

Diagnostic features. Body (except antenna) uniformly light brown; head with maxillary stylets parallel; one pair of long setae on epimeral region; metanotal sculpture with irregular reticles forming a concentric pattern anteromedially, without internal markings; male with anteroangular pore plates on sternites V–VIII, and a posterior transverse plate on VIII; female spermatheca enlarged medially.

Macropterous female: Body ( Fig. 276 ) light brown to brownish yellow; all femora light brown basally and paler on apical or inner half, all tarsi yellow, tergite X darker than body on basal half and light brown on apical half. Antennal segment I concolourous with head, II light brown on basal half and yellow on apical half, III–IV yellow, V yellow slightly shaded light brown on apical half, VI yellow on basal half and shaded light brown on apical half, VII very light brown and lighter near base, VIII very light brown. Fore wings lightly tinted with yellow, weakly shaded near base, without median dark line, clavus shaded; major body setae yellow.

Head ( Fig. 277 ) length and width behind eyes subequal, sometimes slightly wider than long; dorsal surface with weak transverse lines of sculpture, cheeks slightly curved. Eyes well-developed, dorsal length about 0.4 of head length; po with capitate apex, shorter than dorsal width of the eye. Maxillary stylets parallel, reaching posterior margin of eyes and about 0.2 of head width apart. Mouth cone ( Fig. 278 ) with pointed tip, almost reaching ferna. Antennal segment III with 3 sense cones and IV with 3 sense cones + 1 additional small sense cone.

Pronotum ( Fig. 277 ) rectangular to weakly trapezoidal, with few transverse lines of sculpture near posterior margin, surface smooth elsewhere; epimeral sutures incomplete. Five major pairs of pronotal setae, one pair on epimeral region; am small or reduced and with weakly capitate tip, aa, ml, ep and pa well-developed and with capitate tips. Basantra ( Fig. 278 ) faintly indicated, wider than long; prosternal ferna well-developed, close medially but not touching, anterior margins produced. Mesonotum ( Fig. 279 ) with transverse lines enclosing a few irregular elongated reticles, almost equiangular posteriorly; internal markings on sculpture absent. Metanotum ( Fig. 281 ) with irregular reticles, forming a somewhat concentric pattern anteromedially, longitudinally elongate laterally and posteriorly, internal markings on sculpture absent; two to four anterior discal setae and one pair of median major setae present. Fore tarsal hamus slightly thickened at base but not enlarged. Fore wings with 7 to 10 duplicated cilia.

Pelta ( Fig. 280 ) triangular with somewhat irregular margins, anterior margin straight, with weak projections near base, sometimes looking like basal wings; paired campaniform sensilla present. Sculpture covering the whole pelta; small irregular reticles medially, surrounded by elongated ones laterally, internal markings on sculpture absent, but faint markings were seen in one specimen. Tergite II with very faint irregular reticles; sculpture less defined on further tergites. Tergites V–VII with third pair of wing retaining setae, sometimes only on one side; setae sometimes present on tergite IV as well. Tergite IX setae S1 and S2 with slightly capitate apexes, S3 finely acute. Tube about 0.85 of head length and about 1.9 times as long as greatest width near base, apical width about 0.5 of basal width. Spermatheca ( Fig. 283 ) swollen medially.

Measurements (female holotype in microns): Length about 2271; head length 185, width behind eyes 190, po length 36, eye dorsal length 75; median length of pronotum 142, width across ep 262, am 12, aa 35, ml 37, ep 67, pa 50; width of mesonotum 295; fore wing length 740; tergite IX setae S1 125, S2 125, S3 162; tergite X length 157, basal width 84, apical width 45; length(width) of antennal segments III–VIII 62 (30), 54(29), 57(27), 56(25), 52(22), 30(12), respectively.

Macropterous male: Similar to female in both colouration and structure, but smaller. Pore plates ( Fig. 282 ) with reticulate texture and present on sternites V–VIII: V–VII with two anteroangular plates, smaller on V; VIII with two anteroangular plates and a thin band posterior to discal setae.

Measurements (male paratype in microns): Length about 1797; head length 157, width behind eyes 175, po length 24, eye dorsal length 67; median length of pronotum 112, width across ep 225, am 19, aa 30, ml 30, ep 47, pa 40; width of mesonotum 237; fore wing length 650; tergite IX setae S2 105, S3 150; tergite X length 132, basal width 72, apical width 37; length(width) of antennal segments III–VIII 55 (27), 46(27), 51(25), 49(22), 47(20), 26(11), respectively.

Material studied. Holotype female, Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Arraial do Cabo, in Neomitranthes obscura rolled leaf, 28.xi.2011 (Carvalho-Fernandes, S.P.), at UFRGS. Slide code UFRGS 4793 .

Paratypes: 12 males and 10 females collected with holotype, at UFRGS. Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Araruama, collected in Neomitranthes obscura rolled leaves, 3 females on 30.xi.2011 and 1 female on 26.iii.2012 (Carvalho- Fernandes, S.P.), at UFRGS. 1 male and 1 female collected with holotype, at ANIC.

Non-type specimens: 1 male and 2 females collected with holotype; 2 females, Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Araruama, Neomitranthes obscura rolled leaves, 26.iii.2012 (Carvalho-Fernandes, S.P.); all at UFRGS .

Etymology. Species named after the variation in body colour observed between specimens, from light brown to almost yellow.

Comments. Holopothrips varicolor is remarkable for its light-coloured body ( Fig. 276 ), with some specimens looking almost yellow in transmitted light, and for the somewhat concentric pattern formed by the anteromedian reticles in the metanotum ( Fig. 281 ). Other interesting traits are the lack of discal setae on the pronotum, the presence of weakly indicated prosternal basantra ( Fig. 278 ), absence of the third WR on abdominal tergites II–III and females with an enlarged spermatheca ( Fig. 283 ). This species shares some similarities to H. maiae and H. spermathecus in the shape of head and position of maxillary stylets, but differs in the metanotal sculpture ( Fig. 281 ). The metanotal sculpture of H. varicolor differs from species with mostly equiangular reticulation in the metanotum, such as H. hambletoni or H. pennatus , in being formed by smaller reticles with not as well-defined contours. This thrips is known to induce leaf galls on Neomithrantes obscura ( Fig. 9 ) ( Carvalho-Fernandes et al. 2016).

Figures

FIGURES 276–283. Holopothrips varicolor sp. nov. holotype and paratypes. (276) body; (277) head and pronotum; (278) prosternum, showing weakly defined basantra (white arrows); (279) mesonotum; (280) pelta; (281) metanotum; (282) pore plates on abdominal sternites V–VIII; (283) spermatheca.

FIGURES 1–9. Leaf-galls induced by Holopothrips (white arrows). (1) galls on Siphoneugena reitzii (by H. curiosus); (2) galls on Myrciaria floribunda (by H. spermathecus) (Photo: André Santana); (3) gall on Myrcia guianensis (by H. molzi); (4) gall on Myrcia retorta (by H. striatus); (5) gall on Myrcia sp. (by H. cardosoi) (Photo: João C. Cardoso); (6) gall on Myrcia splendens (by H. conducans); (7) gall on Myrcia splendens (by H. longisetus); (8) gall on Myrcia selloi (by H. acrioris); (9) galls on Neomitranthes obscura (by H. varicolor) (Photo: Sheila Carvalho-Fernandes).