Thrips hawaiiensis (Morgan)

Mound, Laurence A. & Masumoto, Masami, 2005, The genus Thrips (Thysanoptera, Thripidae) in Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand, Zootaxa 1020 (1), pp. 1-64 : 27

Thrips hawaiiensis (Morgan)

Euthrips hawaiiensis Morgan, 1913: 3

Physothrips emersoni Girault, 1927a: 2

Thrips io Girault, 1927d: 351

Thrips partirufus Girault, 1927c: 1

Thrips lacteicolor Girault, 1928a: 2

Physothrips marii Girault, 1928b: 2

Physothrips mjobergi darci Girault, 1930: 1

Diagnosis: Body brown or sometimes bicoloured with abdomen brown and head and thorax orange yellow; antennal segment III yellow; forewings brown with base paler. Antennae 7­ or 8­segmented; ocellar setae III arise outside ocellar triangle; postocular setae I & II subequal ( Fig. 34 ). Pronotum with transverse markings, one pair of midlateral setae stout, posterior sub­marginal apodeme weak. Mesonotum with lines of sculpture close to anterior campaniform sensilla ( Fig. 33 ). Metanotum transversely striate on anterior half, with longitudinal but more widely spaced striations on posterior half, median setae arise at anterior margin, campaniform sensilla present, rarely absent. Forewing first vein with 3 setae on distal half, clavus with subterminal seta shorter than terminal seta ( Fig. 35 ). Abdominal tergite II with 4 lateral setae; tergite VIII comb complete but short and irregular; sternites III–VII with 12–25 discal setae.

Male pale brown.

Breeding: Apparently highly polyphagous, this species has been recorded from the flowers of many plants, although some earlier records will involve confusion with T. florum . No attempt appears to have been made to distinguish the range of plant species on which either of these species is dependent for breeding, although adults occur on various crops.

Distribution: This tropical species is widespread across Asia and the Pacific, and has also been recorded from several of the southern States of the USA, also Jamaica ( Nakahara, 1994). In Australia, it is most common in the coastal regions of the north, but a considerable population was found on Gardenia thunbergiana flowers at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, and a few specimens have been seen from inland sites around Mundubbera, Queensland.

Relationships: A considerable number of species in the genus Thrips share a suite of characters with T. hawaiiensis , as indicated by Mound (2005). Included amongst these species is the type species of the genus, as discussed below under the introduced European species, T. trehernei . However, many of the relatives of T. hawaiiensis are from South­East Asia, and all have the metanotum more or less striate medially with the median setae close to the anterior margin. Many of these species have sternal discal setae, but this character is probably not a totally reliable indicator of relationships.

Figures

FIGURES 26–37. Thrips species. T. extensicornis 26–29: (26) Head & pronotum; (27) Meso­metanota; (28) Tergites VI–VIII; (29) Sternites VI–VII. T. florum 30–32: (30) Meso­metanota; (31) Head; (32) Forewing clavus. T. hawaiiensis 33–35: (33) Meso­metanota; (34) Head; (35) Forewing clavus. T. hoddlei 36–37: (36) Head & pronotum; (37) Meso­metanota.