Stenchaetothrips indicus (Ramakrishna & Margabandhu)

Mound, Laurence A., 2011, Grass-dependent Thysanoptera of the family Thripidae from Australia, Zootaxa 3064, pp. 1-40 : 35

Stenchaetothrips indicus (Ramakrishna & Margabandhu)

( Figs 86–89 )

Fulmekiola indica Ramakrishna & Margabandhu, 1931: 1034 Anaphidothrips brasiliensis Hood, 1954: 212 . Syn.n.

Female macroptera. Body and legs clear yellow, abdominal segment X sometimes weakly shaded; antennal segments I–IV yellow, V weakly shaded near apex, VI–VII brown but VI usually paler at base; eyes with no pigmented facets; fore wing uniformly pale. Head with setae long ( Fig. 86 ). Pronotum with 10– 20 setae in median area ( Fig. 89 ). Metanotal sculpture typical of genus, without campaniform sensilla ( Fig. 87 ). Tergites IV–VIII with little or no sculpture medially, posterior margins with no craspedum or teeth ( Fig. 88 ); IX without anterior campaniform sensilla, median dorsal setae slender.

Male macroptera. Similar to female; sternites III–V with transverse pore plate, VI–VIII with median pair of setae arising in front of margin; tergite IX median four pairs of setae arising in transverse row.

Material studied. Queensland, Townsville, 1 female, 20.vii.1968; Boigu Island, 1 female from Saccharum , 16.xi.2009. New South Wales, 25km west of Mittagong, Bullio, 28 females, 6 males from Cymbopogon refractus leaves, 2.iv.2010; Australian Capital Territory, Oakey Hill, 1 female, 1 male from Stipa sp., 3.iv.2010. The following are essentially similar in structure but with a rather larger number of pronotal discal setae: Northern Territory, Darwin, one female, 20.xii.1996; Thailand, Chiang Mai, 4 females from Cymbopogon , 28.i.2005. Studied from BMNH, London: Thailand, Suphanburi, 2 females from Saccharum , vi.1973. Pakistan, Rawalpindi, 1 female from Saccharum , 19.ix.1980. Jamaica, Monynuck, 2 females from Saccharum , 26.i.1965. Trinidad, near Arima, 3 females from grasses, xi.1970.

Comments. Although type material is not available, Bhatti (1982) indicated that S. sacchari (Kruger) from Java is possibly a senior synonym of indicus , a species that is widespread in India . Hood described brasiliensis from three females taken on Andropogon near Brasilia, and these have been compared with two females from Saccharum in Jamaica ( Mound & Marullo, 1996). Moreover, as noted below, three females have now been studied from Trinidad, and these eight are the only specimens known from the Neotropics. Presumably, in common with S. biformis and S. minutus , this species has been introduced to that area from tropical Asia, possibly on sugar cane planting material. S. indicus is unique among the described species in the genus in lacking a comb of slender microtrichia on the posterior margin of tergite VIII in females. In this species, the posterior margin of tergite VIII bears a weak craspedum of small flat translucent lobes, but these vary in size and are not visible in all the available specimens, all of which are here interpreted as conspecific. The number of discal setae on the pronotum varies among the specimens studied, and females from Trinidad and Jamaica have an anterior pair of campaniform sensilla on tergite IX although these are not present in any of the other specimens listed above.

Figures

FIGURES 86 – 92. Stenchaetothrips and Takethrips spp. Sten. indicus 86 – 89: (86) head; (87) meso & metanota; (88) tergites VI – VIII; (89) pronotum. Takethrips megas 90 - 92: (90) meso & metanota; (91) ovipositor; (92) tergites VII-X.