Thrips coloratus Schmutz, 1013

Mound, Laurence A. & Masumoto, Masami, 2005, The genus Thrips (Thysanoptera, Thripidae) in Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand, Zootaxa 1020 (1), pp. 1-64 : 19-20

Thrips coloratus Schmutz

Thrips coloratus Schmutz, 1913: 1013

Thrips aligherini Girault, 1927b: 1

Diagnosis: Body largely yellow, abdominal tergite X brown, also antennal segments IV– VII; abdominal tergites III–VIII usually with brown area medially; forewings uniformly but weakly shaded. Antennae 7­segmented; ocellar setae III arise well outside ocellar triangle, ocellar area with transverse striations; postocular setae I & III subequal, II scarcely half length of I. Pronotum with transverse markings and about 26 discal setae, one pair of midlateral setae slightly stouter. Mesonotum with lines of sculpture close to anterior campaniform sensilla. Metanotum transversely striate on anterior half, with longitudinal but more widely spaced striations on posterior half ( Fig. 13), median setae arise close to anterior margin, campaniform sensilla present. Forewing first vein with 3 setae on distal half, clavus with subterminal seta shorter than terminal seta. Abdominal tergite II with 4 lateral setae; tergite VIII comb complete but sometimes irregular; sternite II with 2–4 discal setae, III–VII with 12–25 discal setae ( Fig. 14).

Breeding: This species is apparently highly polyphagous, adults having been collected in Japan from the flowers of many plants, including Asteraceae ( Chrysanthemum , Sol­ idago), Leguminosae ( Lespedeza , Pueraria and Trifolium ), Malvaceae ( Hibiscus mutabilis ), Moraceae ( Ficus carica ), Rosaceae ( Eriobotrya japonica ), Rutaceae ( Citrus sp. ) and Theaceae ( Thea sinensis ) ( Miyazaki & Kudo, 1988).

Distribution: A tropical species, T. coloratus has been recorded from many countries between Pakistan, Japan and Queensland ( Palmer, 1992). Only a few specimens have been taken in Australia, from eastern New South Wales and south­eastern Queensland.

Relationships: In structure, this species is very similar to T. hawaiiensis , but the forewings are uniformly shaded not paler at the base, and the abdomen is never uniformly brown.