Haplothrips shivendraii Tyagi & Kumar

Tyagi, Kaomud, Singha, Devkant, Saha, Goutam Kumar & Kumar, Vikas, 2018, One generic synonym and one new species of Phlaeothripidae from India (Thysanoptera), ZooKeys 786, pp. 59-68 : 61-64

Haplothrips shivendraii Tyagi & Kumar sp. n. Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Diagnosis.

Both sexes macropterous. Body dark brown, fore wing transparent. Antennae 8-segmented, III with two and IV with four sense cones. Head longer than broad, maxillary stylets widely separated, maxillary bridge complete; with one pair of postocular setae, capitate. Pronotal epimeral setae (ep) well developed, capitate, notopleural sutures incomplete or incomplete. Mesopresternum divided into two lateral triangles. Fore wing without duplicated cilia. Fore tarsal tooth small in female and developed in male. Pelta triangular.

Description.

Female macroptera. Body dark brown, all femora, mid and hind tibiae, mid and hind tarsi brown; fore tibiae light brown, fore tarsi yellow with unguitractor dark, fore wing transparent, shaded with brown basally (Figure 1). Antennae brown except light brown segment III. Head longer than broad, dorsal surface with few transverse striae (Figure 3). Maxillary stylets retracted to postocular setae and one third of width apart, maxillary bridge present; one pair of postocular setae well developed, capitate; eyes enlarged dorsally than ventrally; ocelli present. Antennae 8-segmented; segment II with campaniform sensilla situated apically; segment III with two sense cones, IV with four sense cones, V with three-one-one sense cones situated outer and inner margin of apex, and one small sense cone on apex, VI with two, VII with one sense cone; segment VIII not constricted at base (Figure 4). Mouth cone rounded. Pronotum rectangular, 1.7 times as broad as long, and 0.6 times as long as head; dorsal surface with few striae laterally and posteriorly and many small setae; anteroangular setae (aa) small and blunt apically, anteromarginal (am) and midlateral (ml) setae small, pointed or reduced, posteroangular setae (pa) capitate, little longer than aa and shorter than ep, epimeral setae (ep) well developed, capitate, and longer than posteroangular (pa); notopleural sutures incomplete or complete. Mesonotum dorsal surface with faint transversely reticulate sculpture, median and submedian setae little far from posterior margin; lateral setae expanded at apex. Metanotum weakly sculptured with reticulation, with well-developed median pointed setae. Mesopresternum divided into two lateral triangles (Figure 5). Fore wing with median constriction, without duplicated cilia; sub-basal wing setae arranged in one row, well developed and capitate, and S3 the longest (Figure 6). Fore tarsal tooth small (Figure 3). Pelta triangular in shape, surface with reticulation (Figure 7). Tergites III–VII with 2 pairs of wing retaining setae (Figure 8); tergite IX setae S1 bluntly pointed, S2 and S3 finely acute (Figure 9). Sternites II–VIII with accessory setae. Tube shorter than head, anal setae shorter than tube.

Measurements.

(holotype female in microns). Body length 2020; head length 225, width across eyes 170, across cheeks 176, across cheeks just before basal collar 159; eye length 98-100, width 50-55; postocular setae lengths 25-28; pronotum median length 133, width 238, lengths of major setae: pa 10, epim 36-42; pelta length 96, width at base 120; antenna length 318, L(W) of antennal segments I 27-29(29), II 39-42 (29), III 43(28), IV 46-49(32), V 41-43(28), VI 40(23), VII 37(20), VIII 27-29(11); fore wing basal setae length S1 39-40, S2 52-54, S3 62-63; tergite IX length 70; setae S1 102-104, setae S2 87-88; tube length 153, width at base 34, at apex 62; anal setae length 99-117.

Male.

Macropterous. Colour and structure similar to female (Figure 2). Fore tarsus with distinct and well developed tooth. Male sternite VII without pore areas.

Material studied.

Holotype female, INDIA: Rajasthan, Jodhpur, Desert Regional Centre, ZSI, collected from grass, 1.i.2015, (Reg. No.9542/H17), Coll. Shivendra Kumar Singh, in National Zoological Collections (NZC). Paratypes: 8 females 4 males, taken with holotype (Reg. No. 9543/H17 to 9554/H17).

Etymology.

This species is credited to Shivendra Kumar Singh for his keen interest and untiring effort for thrips collection dating back to his childhood.

Distribution.

India (Rajasthan).

Remarks.

This new species is similar to Haplothrips pallescens in having incomplete notopleural sutures in ten specimens. It can be distinguished by the body colour, which is brown in the new species but bicoloured in pallescens ; the pronotal anteroangular and anteromarginal setae are not developed in shivendraii , but well developed and capitate in pallescens . There are two sense cones on antennal segment III and four on IV in shivendraii but one sense cone on III and three on IV in pallescens .

According to Indian key to the order Thysanoptera ( Ananthakrishnan and Sen 1980), the new species is similar to Haplothrips nigricornis (Bagnall) by the length of the pronotal midlateral setae and anteroangular setae. It can be distinguished by the yellow fore tarsus (yellowish brown in nigricornis ), light brown fore tibia (fore tibia brown with slightly paler apex), presence of four sense cones on segment IV (4+1 in nigricornis ); pronotum with posteroangular setae developed (reduced in nigricornis ); and maxillary stylets are more widely separated in shivendraii than nigricornis .