Thrips safrus, Mound & Masumoto, 2005

Mound, Laurence A. & Masumoto, Masami, 2005, The genus Thrips (Thysanoptera, Thripidae) in Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand, Zootaxa 1020 (1), pp. 1-64 : 45-46

Thrips safrus sp.n.

Diagnosis: Body and legs yellow to white, distal antennal segments light brown, IV­VI yellow at base; forewings pale. Antennae 7­segmented; ocellar setae III arise just within anterolateral margins of ocellar triangle close to first ocellus, ocellar region with weak transverse striae; postocular setae in straight row, subequal in size. Pronotum with transverse striae, 20–30 discal setae and 4–5 posteromarginal setae, external postero­angular seta shorter than inner seta. Metanotum irregularly reticulate medially, median setae well behind anterior margin, campaniform sensilla present. Forewing first vein usually with 3 setae on distal half; clavus with terminal seta longer than subterminal seta. Abdominal tergite II with 3 lateral setae; tergite VIII comb represented by a few teeth laterally; sternite II with 1 or 2 discal setae, III–VII with 15–25 discal setae in an irregular transverse row; pleurotergites with no discal setae ( Fig. 42 ). Male yellow, sternites III–VII with 9–15 discal setae in an irregular transverse row posterior to small transverse glandular area.

Measurements of holotype female in microns: Body length 1400. Head, length 75; width 150. Pronotum, length 145; width 200; inner pa setae 60; outer pa setae 45. Forewing length 800. Antennal segments III­VII length 55, 50, 35, 50, 14.

Type material: Holotype ♀, Australia, Queensland, Townsville , from Cochlospermum fraseri flowers, 16.vii.1995 (LAM 2770), in ANIC.

Paratypes: 4♀ collected with holotype .

Non­paratypic material: Specimens of this species have been examined from many plant species across a wide range of localities in northern Australia: Queensland — Brisbane, Dalby, Bundaberg, Mundubera, Charters Towers, Thursday Island, Mareeba, Mossman, Cape Tribulation; Northern Territory — Alice Springs, Katherine, Darwin, Jabiru; Western Australia — Kununurra, Wittenoom, Millstream; New South Wales — Jervis Bay, Sydney, Orange; South Australia — Maree. New Caledonia — Poe Beach.

Breeding: Adults have been recorded from the flowers of a wide range of plants, but no evidence is available concerning the plants on which breeding occurs.

Distribution: Presumably endemic to Australia, this new species is largely restricted to the northern parts of this continent where it replaces the closely related species T. imaginis . Although a few specimens have been taken near Sydney, and one female from further south at Jervis Bay, T. safrus is generally found north of latitude 27°. One female of this species has been studied from New Caledonia on Acacia spirorbis flowers; this was previously identified as T. imaginis , but the remaining specimens in that series ( Bournier & Mound, 2000) require further checking.

Relationships: Using the key to Thrips species by Palmer (1992), this new species will track to an un­named species subsequently described as T. palmerae Reyes (1994) from the Philippines. However that is a brown insect in which the metanotum has no campaniform sensilla and the sculptured reticles possess internal markings. T. safrus is closely related to, and has previously been identified as, Thrips imaginis , the Plague Thrips of southern Australia. Females of T. imaginis vary in colour from brown to yellowish white, but always have one to three discal setae on the pleurotergites of abdominal segments III to VI. In contrast, females of the Northern Plague Thrips are always yellow in colour, and bear no discal setae on any of the abdominal pleurotergites. The males of these two species cannot at present be distinguished.

The single damaged specimen on which T. shakespearei Girault was based may possibly represent this species. Only abdominal segments VI­X are preserved on the Girault holotype, and even these are heavily distorted, so that it is not possible to be sure that pleurotergal discal setae are absent rather than not visible. Rather than use this severely damaged and equivocal specimen as the basis for recognizing one of the most common and widespread insects of northern Australia, T. shakespearei is here placed as a synonym of T. imaginis , and the Northern Plague Thrips is described as this new species.

Figures

FIGURES 38–47. Thrips species. T. imaginis 38–41: (38) Head & pronotum; (39) Sternites VI–VII; (40) Pleurotergites IV–VI; (41) Meso­metanota. T.safrus (42) Pleurotergites IV–VI. T. insignis (43) Meso­metanota. T. knoxi 44–48: (44) Head & pronotum; (45) antennal segments IV–VIII; (46) Sternites III–IV; (47) Meso­metanota; (48) tergites VII–VIII.