Tubuliferous Thysanoptera inAustralia with an enlarged tenth abdominal segment (Phlaeothripidae, Idolothripinae), including six new species
Author
Mound, Laurence A.
Australian National Insect Collection CSIRO, PO Box 1700, Canberra, ACT 2601.
Author
Tree, Desley J.
c / o Queensland Primary Industries Insect Collection (QDPC), Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Queensland, Ecosciences Precinct, GPO Box 267, Brisbane, Qld, 4001.
text
Zootaxa
2021
2021-04-01
4951
1
167
181
journal article
7410
10.11646/zootaxa.4951.1.9
e63f7e67-71da-4d34-8b2f-970b5ccb812f
1175-5326
4655899
C69BBA9F-961B-4369-8FB1-1EBCC1EB130A
Neosmerinthothrips
Schmutz
Neosmerinthothrips
Schmutz, 1913: 1051
.
Type
species
N. fructuum
Schmutz.
This genus of Idolothripinae-Diceratothripina is weakly diagnosed, but an identification key to the 18 included species was provided by
Mound (1974b)
, with an additional three species added subsequently (ThripsWiki 2021). Very little is known about any of the species, as most of them are based on few specimens. The only species for which extensive measurements and illustrations are available is
N. insularis
, of which
Okajima (2006)
studied good series of both sexes from the Ryukyu Islands,
Japan
. Wingless males of this species were described as exhibiting considerable variation in body size and setal lengths, although the setae on tergite IX are generally slightly shorter than the length of the tube. Moreover, the macropterous females were described as differing in structure and chaetotaxy from the wingless males. In consequence, species recognition within this genus is probably insecure. Individuals of
Neosmerinthothrips
species are usually beaten from dead branches where, judging from the gut contents of available specimens, the adults feed on fungal spores. The two new species described here were both found in northern
Australia
. One of them,
N. barrowi
sp.n.
, has the head longer than wide (
Fig. 17
), the fore tarsus with a small tooth, and the median length of each sternite considerably longer than the corresponding tergite. The second species,
N. turrbali
sp.n
.
, has the head almost as wide as long (
Fig. 18
), the fore tarsus without a tooth, and the length of each pair of tergites and sternites not differing greatly.