Phallothrips houstoni Mound & Crespi, 1992

Mound, Laurence A., Tree, Desley J. & Wells, Alice, 2022, Convoluted maxillary stylets among Australian Thysanoptera Phlaeothripinae associated mainly with Casuarinaceae trees, Zootaxa 5190 (3), pp. 301-332 : 329

Phallothrips houstoni Mound & Crespi

( Figs 48–50 )

Phallothrips houstoni Mound & Crespi, 1992: 403 .

Macropterous females are bicoloured, with the head dark brown, the pronotum yellow, the thorax and abdominal segments I–VIII light brown but segments IX–X yellow. The pronotum is narrower than the prothorax ( Figs 48, 49 ), and only the epimeral setae are long and capitate. In contrast, apterae and micropterae of both sexes vary greatly in size. The smallest individuals are rather similar to macropterae in colour, but the more common larger individuals are robustly built with a massive thorax and fore legs, antennal segments almost moniliform, extensive reticulation on the thorax, and each tergite dark brown across the anterior half. The largest individuals have the epimeral setae small and pointed. In all forms, the mesopresternum and the pelta are effectively absent, and tergites II–VII each bear a single pair of long wing-retaining setae that are sigmoid only in macropterae ( Fig. 50 ). This species is widespread across the semiarid areas of Australia, from Dalby and Goondiwindi in southern Queensland, across New South Wales to Broken Hill, and also South Australia at Leigh Creek and west of Whyalla. At these sites it has been found in the woody galls of Iotatubothrips crozieri on C. cristata . In Western Australia, colonies have been found in the woody galls induced by Iotatubothrips kranzae on C. obesa trees at the Murchison River crossing, 90km north of Geraldton.

Figures

FIGURES 40–50. Akthethrips, Enigmathrips, Phallothrips, Thaumatothrips. A. strobus 40-42: (40) head; (41) pronotum; (42) metanotum & pelta. E. carnarvoni 43–46: (43) antenna; (44) head; (45) prosternites; (46) pronotum. (47) T. froggatti head & fore legs. P. houstoni 48–50: (48) microptera; (49) macroptera; (50) macroptera tergites V–VII.