Holopothrips irregularis, 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 : 50-52

Holopothrips irregularis sp. n.

( Figs 131–137 )

Diagnostic features. Body (except antenna) light brown; maxillary stylets V-shaped and not retracted to base of po; usually one pair of long pronotal setae on epimeral region, sometimes a second but shorter setae present in one side; metanotal sculpture with elongate reticles, forming a concentric pattern posteriorly, with internal markings; discal setae on sternite VIII irregularly placed, not organized in a single row; male with faintly indicated irregular pore plates on sternite VIII only; female spermatheca enlarged medially.

Macropterous female: Body ( Fig. 131 ) uniformly light brown, with fore tibia and fore tarsi yellow, mid and hind tarsi brownish yellow, tergite X brown on basal half and lighter on apical half. Antennal segment I concolourous with head, II brown with apical third yellow, III–V yellow, VI yellow shaded light brown on apical half, VII very light brown with base yellow, VIII very light brown. Fore wings pale, without median dark line, clavus yellowish; major body setae light yellow.

Head ( Fig. 132 ) length and width behind eyes subequal to slightly longer, dorsal surface with transverse lines of sculpture, cheeks straight. Eyes well-developed, somewhat bulbous, dorsal length about 0.4 of head length; po with blunt to weakly capitate apex, about as long as the dorsal width of the eye. Maxillary stylets V-shaped, reaching halfway to po level and more than half of head width apart. Mouth cone with rounded tip, not reaching ferna. Antennal segments III and IV with 2 sense cones each.

Pronotum ( Fig. 132 ) trapezoidal, weak transverse lines of sculpture near posterior margin, in some specimens very faint reticulation is visible on anterior third; epimeral sutures incomplete. Five major pairs of pronotal setae, one pair on epimeral region, sometimes a second well-developed ep setae present; am and aa short with acute to blunt tips, ml, ep and pa well-developed and with slightly expanded to weakly capitate tips. Basantra absent; prosternal ferna well-developed, in some specimens might look fused medially. Mesonotum ( Fig. 133 ) with irregular reticulation medially, elongated laterally and anteriorly, almost striate posteriorly; internal markings on sculpture absent. Metanotum ( Fig. 134 ) with longitudinally elongated reticles, forming a concentric pattern posteriorly, internal markings on sculpture present; one or two pairs of anterior discal setae and one pair of median major setae present. Fore tarsal hamus slightly thickened, but not greatly enlarged or extending beyond lateral margin of tarsus. Fore wings with 5 to 7 duplicated cilia.

Pelta ( Fig. 135 ) triangular with irregular margins, anterior margin acute ending in a straight tip, with weak lateral wings; paired campaniform sensilla present. Sculpture faint but covering the whole pelta, sometimes weaker near margins; almost equiangular reticles medially, transversely elongate reticles posteriorly, internal markings on sculpture absent. Tergite II with transversely elongated reticles anterolaterally, irregular reticles anteromedially and laterally, sculpture weaker or absent medially; sculpture less defined on further tergites. Tergites II–VII with three pairs of wing retaining setae, sometimes might be absent on II. Tergite IX setae S1 with acute to blunt apex, S2 acute and S3 finely acute. Tube about 0.9 of head length and about 1.7–2.0 times as long as greatest width near base, apical width about 0.5 of basal width. Spermatheca ( Fig. 136 ) swollen medially.

Measurements (female holotype in microns): Length about 2005; head length 202, width behind eyes 195, po length 45, eye dorsal length 87; median length of pronotum 140, width across ep 265, am 27, aa 12, ml 50, ep 92, pa 82; width of mesonotum 270; fore wing length 900; tergite IX setae S1 237, S2 262, S3 217; tergite X length 205, basal width 102, apical width 50; length(width) of antennal segments III–VIII 55 (32), 45(32), 52(31), 50(30), 57(27), 40(15), respectively.

Macropterous male: Similar to female in both colouration and structure, but slightly smaller. Pore plate ( Fig. 137 ) apparently present on sternite VIII, which has very faint irregular spots with punctuate texture posterior to discal setae.

Measurements (male paratype in microns): Length about 1758; head length 195, width behind eyes 170, po length 50, eye dorsal length 82; median length of pronotum 130, width across ep 245, am 22, aa 20, ml 35, ep 92, pa 76; width of mesonotum 250; fore wing length 820; tergite IX setae S1 210, S2 227, S3 175; tergite X length 175, basal width 95, apical width 42; length(width) of antennal segments III–VIII 55 (31), 40(30), 50(31), 42(27), 52(22), 40(14), respectively.

Material studied. Holotype female, Brazil, Minas Gerais, São Tomé das Letras, in Eugenia sp. gall, 12.vi.2012 (Maia, V.C.), at UFRGS. Slide code UFRGS 4618 .

Paratypes: 4 males and 25 females collected with holotype, at UFRGS . 1 male and 2 females collected with holotype, at ANIC .

Etymology. Named in reference to the irregular reticles in the metanotum.

Comments. Holopothrips irregularis has the metanotal sculpture forming a somewhat concentric pattern of elongate reticles posteriorly ( Fig. 134 ), which is uncommon among other Holopothrips species. Moreover, this species has the antenna mostly yellow on segments III–VIII, with VII–VIII being only weakly shaded; two sense cones on antennal segments III–IV, and female spermatheca greatly enlarged medially ( Fig. 136 ). This species has some similarities to H. mariae , especially the metanotal sculpture; however, H. irregularis differs in size, colouration, and having no internal markings on the mesonotal sculpture. Males of H. mariae have well-defined pore plates on abdominal sternites VI–VIII, while in H. irregularis there are only faint indications of irregular spots posterior to the discal setae on sternite VIII ( Fig. 137 ).

Figures

FIGURES 131–137. Holopothrips irregularis sp. nov. holotype and paratypes. (131) body; (132) head and pronotum; (133) mesonotum; (134) metanotum; (135) pelta; (136) spermatheca; (137) male abdominal sternite VIII, showing faint spots, which may be pore plates (white arrows).