Endemism among Lord Howe IslandThysanoptera, with new species of Baenothrips (Phlaeothripidae) and Scirtothrips (Thripidae)
Author
Mound, Laurence A.
0000-0002-6019-4762
Australian National Insect Collection CSIRO, PO Box 1700, Canberra, ACT 2601 & laurence. mound @ csiro. au; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0002 - 6019 - 4762
laurence.mound@csiro.au
Author
Wells, Alice
0000-0001-5581-6056
Australian National Insect Collection CSIRO, PO Box 1700, Canberra, ACT 2601 & alice. wells @ csiro. au; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0001 - 5581 - 6056
alice.wells@csiro.au
text
Zootaxa
2023
2023-01-11
5228
1
81
91
journal article
228172
10.11646/zootaxa.5228.1.5
6bf357db-01e1-4b5f-a386-57c4be4d5ad4
1175-5326
7524128
F20CE6AA-3878-489A-AB2A-442A8E246944
Baenothrips
Crawford
This genus was erected for a single species known only from a single specimen reputed to be from
Guatemala
. Subsequently two further species from the Neotropics were placed in this genus, but the remaining six species in
Baenothrips
are all from the Old World tropics or subtropics (ThripsWiki 2022). They belong to a group of genera that is often referred to as the Urothripines, and species of these genera are usually wingless, and have the tenth abdominal segment long and parallel-sided (
Figs 12–13
). Variation in colour is commonly reported between samples of such wingless species, and in drawing attention to this situation in
Australia
,
Mound (1972)
decided not to consider as separate species each of the colour variants of
Urothrips reedi
(Stannard)
. There is currently no satisfactory explanation for the colour diversity amongst samples of such wingless leaf-litter thrips. However, it may be significant that no males have been found of
B. bulbosus
sp.n.
,
although both sexes have been seen of the other two species described below.
In mainland
Australia
, only two species of
Baenothrips
are found commonly. One of these,
caenosus
(Stannard)
, has been studied only from southeastern localities. In contrast,
moundi
(Stannard)
has been found widely across the continent south of Brisbane including
Tasmania
, and has also been studied from Lord Howe Island,
Norfolk Island
and
New Zealand
. Although over 100 slide-mounted apterae of this species have been studied, only three macropterae have been seen (two from Tasmania; one from Canberra). These macropterae of
moundi
have each compound eye narrowed ventrally to a row that is only two facets wide. However, three damaged macropterae have been seen from northern Queensland that are essentially similar to
moundi
but have the ventral part of the compound eyes consisting of a broad row that is three or four facets wide. Two further unidentified apterae of
Baenothrips
have been studied, one from Western Australia (Barrow Island) and one from Tasmania, and although both are essentially similar to
caenosus
they have all three pairs of anal setae almost equally elongate. The significance of the above
five specimens
remains in doubt.