Azaleothrips lepidus Okajima, 1978

Dang, Lihong, Li, Yaya, Mound, Laurence A. & Qiao, Gexia, 2023, The Oriental fungus-feeding genus Azaleothrips Ananthakrishnan, 1964 from China with one new species and four new records (Thysanoptera, Phlaeothripidae, Phlaeothripinae), ZooKeys 1183, pp. 219-231 : 219

Azaleothrips lepidus Okajima, 1978

Figs 5 , 17 , 26

Azaleothrips lepidus Okajima, 1978: 386.

Specimens studied.

China - Yunnan • 1♀1♂ (SNUT); Lincang; on dead branches; 4 & 7.vi.2021; Xia Wang & Chengwen Li leg. LAOS - Champasak • 4♀1♂ (ANIC); on dead wood; 12.vi.2018; Alice Wells leg.

Comments.

Described from Thailand on dead leaves, this species is here newly recorded from China. Azaleothrips lepidus is very similar to A. toshifumii , with which it is sympatric, but they can be distinguished by the coloration of antennae and legs ( Okajima and Masumoto 2014). Two specimens from China have antennal segment IV uniformly brown, fore-coxae and femora largely yellow, with outer side shaded, and the mid- and hind-tibiae slightly medially shaded. Especially, their antennal segment III is clear yellow, as are the specimens from Laos, which were originally described as yellow to yellowish brown ( Okajima 1978).

Figures

Figures 1 - 7. Heads of Azaleothrips species 1 A. formosae 2 A. laevigatus 3 A. laevigatus, ventral view of head 4 A. sphaericus sp. nov. 5 A. lepidus 6 A. siamensis 7 A. templeri.

Figures 15 - 18. Pronotum of Azaleothrips species 15 A. formosae 16 A. laevigatus 17 A. lepidus 18 A. siamensis.

Figures 24 - 30. Abdomen of Azaleothrips species 24 - 27 pore plate on sternite VIII 24 A. sphaericus sp. nov. 25 A. laevigatus 26 A. lepidus 27 A. formosae 28 - 30 tergites IX-X 28 A. sphaericus sp. nov. 29 A. laevigatus 30 A. siamensis.