Azaleothrips moundi Okajima

Okajima, Shûji & Masumoto, Masami, 2014, Species-richness in the Oriental fungus-feeding thrips of the genus Azaleothrips (Thysanoptera, Phlaeothripidae), Zootaxa 3846 (3), pp. 301-347 : 332

Azaleothrips moundi Okajima

Azaleothrips moundi Okajima, 1976: 19 –22; Okajima, 2006: 193 –196. Azaleothrips magnus Chen, 1980: 176 –177. Syn. n.

Diagnosis. Body brown to dark brown; antennal segment III yellow, basal neck of IV paler; legs largely brown. Head almost as long as wide, distinctly reticulate, scattered with small tubercles among reticles; antennal segments VII and VIII closely joined, segments III and IV each with two (1 + 1) sensoria. Pronotum reticulate, but tuberculate posteriorly; basantra present, but weak; fore tarsus unarmed in both sexes; mesonotum with small tubercles along transverse lines of reticulation; metanotum with polygonal reticulations and with small tubercles along reticles. Pelta trapezoidal in macropterae, wide and oval in micropterae; male pore plate on abdominal sternite VIII distinct, but narrow; S1 setae on abdominal tergite IX usually shorter than half the length of tube; S2 setae on tergite IX expanded in both sexes; tube about 0.7 times as long as head in female; anal setae almost as long as tube.

This species was described based on several females and males collected from the Ryukyu Islands, Japan. A. moundi is commonly found in the subtropical and warm temperate regions of Japan and Taiwan and is distinctive within the genus by having two sensoria on both third and fourth antennal segments. Although, only macropterous females and males are found in most of congeners, micropterous females and males are more commonly found than macropterous females in this species. The micropterous individuals are also found only in simulans , newly described below from Bali Is., Indonesia, other than this species.

The synonymous species magnus , described from Taiwan ( Chen 1980), can not be distinguished satisfactorily from this species (see Okajima 2006).