Psephenothrips eriobotryae Dang & Qiao, 2021

Dang, Li-Hong, Zhao, Lin-Peng, Li, Yan-Qiao & Qiao, Ge-Xia, 2021, Studies on the genus Psephenothrips Reyes from China (Thysanoptera, Phlaeothripinae), with one new species, ZooKeys 1029, pp. 113-121 : 113

Psephenothrips eriobotryae Dang & Qiao sp.nov. Figs 1-7 , 8-15

Material examined.

Holotype. ♀ (SUT), China, Sichuan Province, Guangyuan City, Fenghuangshan Park, on the leaves of loquat tree ( Eriobotrya japonica (Thunb.) Lindl , 07.viii.2018, L.H. Dang, Y. Hu & D.L. Xie. Paratypes. 3♂, with the same data as holotype.

Diagnosis.

Body uniform brown (Fig. 8 ); head as long as wide (Figs 1 , 8 ), postocular setae shorter than eyes, very weakly expanded at apex (Fig. 1 ); maxillary stylets retracted into eyes, little wide apart (Figs 1 , 8 ); pronotal am minute, other four pairs of major setae well-developed, weakly expanded at apex (Fig. 1 ); mesopresternum boat-shaped with a protrusion (Figs 5 , 10 ); metathoracic sternopleural sutures absent; fore wing sub-basal setae S1 about as long as S2, expanded at apex, S3 small, pointed (Fig. 4 ); female abdominal tergite IX setae S1 and S2 shorter than tube (Figs 2 , 15 ); male abdominal sternite without a pore plate, S2 setae of tergite IX short and stout (Figs 6 , 14 ).

Description.

Holotype. Female macroptera. Body brown (Fig. 8 ). Antennal segments I-II and VII-VIII brown, III yellow, IV-V yellow, but apically brownish, VI brown with basal part yellow (Fig. 13 ); fore tibiae yellowish-brown with brown at basal 1/3, all tarsi yellow, rest of legs brown (Fig. 8 ). All major setae yellowish-brown.

Head. Head as long as wide (Figs 1 , 8 ); dorsal surface weakly sculptured with transverse striae, ocellar region smooth; postocular setae shorter than eyes, very weakly expanded at apex (Fig. 1 ); cheeks gradually narrowed towards base, with a few stout setae; mouth-cone rounded, maxillary stylets retracted into eyes, little wide apart (Figs 1 , 8 ). Antennae 8-segmented, VIII weakly constricted at base, slightly shorter than VII, sense cones stout, III with 0+1, VI with 1+2, V-VI with 1+1, respectively (Fig. 7 ).

Thorax. Pronotum almost smooth, notopleural sutures complete (Figs 1 , 12 ), am minute, other four pairs of major setae well-developed, weakly expanded at apex, epim about as long as pa (Fig. 1 ); metanotum weakly sculptured with reticulation, with pointed setae (Fig. 11 ); mesopresternum boat shaped with a protruding (Figs 5 , 10 ), metathoracic sternopleural sutures absent. All legs normal, without fore tarsal tooth (Fig. 1 ); fore wing parallel sided (Fig. 8 ), with 8-14 duplicated cilia, sub-basal wing setae arranged in a triangle, S1 about as long as S2, expanded at apex, S3 small, pointed (Fig. 4 ).

Abdomen. Pelta round triangled and reticulate (Figs 3 , 11 ); abdominal tergites II-VII with two pairs of wing-retaining setae; tergite IX setae S1 and S2 shorter than tube, nearly pointed or narrowly blunt at apex (Figs 2 , 15 ); tube about 2.0 times as long as basal width, anal setae slightly shorter than tube.

Measurements (holotype female in microns). Body length 2545. Head length 215, width across eyes 215; eye length 83, width 65; postocular setae length 38. Antennae length 450, segments I-VIII lengths 46, 58, 65, 60, 55, 55, 44 and 41. Pronotum length 163, width 315, length of pronotal setae, am 5, aa 30, ml 25, epim 65, pa 65. Fore wing length 895, wing sub-basal S1-S3, 40, 35 and 15. Pelta length 110, width 200; tergite IX posteromarginal setae S1-S3, 105, 85 and 102; tube length 165, basal width 88, width in the middle 68, at apex 38; anal setae length 160.

Male macroptera. Very similar to female (Fig. 9 ), fore legs without fore tarsal tooth (Fig. 9 ); abdominal sternite without a pore plate, S2 setae of tergite IX short and stout (Figs 6 , 14 ).

Measurements (paratype male in microns). Body length 2190. Head length 195, width across eyes 203; eye length 75, width 65; postocular setae length 60. Antennae length 460, segments I-VIII length 42, 60, 65, 62, 57, 57, 55 and 45. Pronotum length 150, width 370, length of pronotal setae, am 10, aa 38, ml 40, epim 75, pa 56. Fore wing length 860, wing sub-basal S1-S3, 38, 30 and 20. Pelta length 95, width 175; tergite IX posteromarginal setae S1-S3, 120, 45 and 155; tube length 185, basal width 90, width in the middle 65, at apex 38; anal setae length 155.

COI sequence.

It includes 1492 bp with the GenBank number MW567215.

Etymology.

This species name is composed of one Latin word, Psephenothrips eriobotryae , based on its host plant.

Comments. This new species can be distinguished from the other members of Psephenothrips by having pronotal am minute. It is similar to P. leptoceras in body shape and colour, but differs in having postocular setae shorter than eyes (Figs 1 , 8 ), sub-basal setae S3 small and pointed at apex (Fig. 4 ), and posteromarginal setae of tergite IX much shorter than tube (Figs 2 , 15 ). In P. leptoceras , the postocular setae are about as long as eyes (Fig. 16 ), sub-basal setae S3 are as long as S2 and expanded at apex (Fig. 21 ), and posteromarginal setae of tergite IX are slightly shorter than tube (Fig. 19 ).

Figures

Figures 1 - 7. Psephenothrips eriobotryae sp. nov. 1 head, pronotum and fore legs 2 tergites I, female 3 pelta 4 base of forewing 5 mesopresternum 6 tergites IX-X, male 7 antenna.

Figures 8 - 15. Psephenothrips eriobotryae sp. nov. 8 adult, female 9 adult, male 10 prosternum and mesopresternum 11 meso-, metanotum and pelta 12 head and pronotum 13 antenna 14 tergites IX-X, male 15 tergites IX-X, female. Scale bars: 100 μm.

Figures 16 - 25. Psephenothrips leptoceras 16 head, pronotum and fore leg 17 mesopresternum 18 meso- and metanotum 19 tergites IX-X, female 20 antenna 21 base of forewing 22 tergites V-VI 23 pelta 24 metathoracic sternopleural suture, left 25 tergites IX-X, male.