Holopothrips longihamus, Lindner & Ferrari & Mound & Cavalleri, 2018

Lindner, Mariana F., Ferrari, Augusto, Mound, Laurence A. & Cavalleri, Adriano, 2018, Holopothrips diversity-a Neotropical genus of gall-inducing insects (Thysanoptera, Phlaeothripidae), Zootaxa 4494 (1), pp. 1-99 : 57-59

Holopothrips longihamus sp. n.

( Figs 151–158 )

Diagnostic features. Body (except antenna) uniformly brown; maxillary stylets V-shaped; one pair of long pronotal setae on epimeral region; fore leg hamus greatly enlarged; metanotal sculpture with irregular and very elongate reticles, looking almost striate, without internal markings; pelta usually with four or five campaniform sensilla; male with weak and irregular pore plates, posterior to discal setae, on sternites VII–VIII; female spermatheca enlarged medially.

Macropterous female: Body ( Fig. 151 ) brown, with apex of fore femora, fore and mid tibiae, and all tarsi yellow, tergite X concolourous with body but lighter apically. Antennal segment I concolourous with head, II yellowish on apical half, III–IV yellow, V–VI yellow on basal half and shaded brown on apical half, VII yellow on basal half and brown on apical half, VIII brown ( Fig. 153 ). Fore wings light yellow, without median dark line, clavus shaded; major body setae yellow.

Head ( Fig. 152 ) about 1.25 times as long as width behind eyes, but variation was observed among specimens from 1.15 to 1.37 times; dorsal surface with transverse lines of sculpture, cheeks straight. Eyes well-developed, dorsal length about 0.4 of head length; po with slightly expanded to capitate apex, about as long as the dorsal length of the eye. Maxillary stylets V-shaped and low on head, about a third to a half of head width apart. Mouth cone with pointed tip, almost reaching the posterior margin of fore coxae. Antennal segment III with 3 sense cones and IV with 3 sense cones + 1 additional small sense cone.

Pronotum ( Fig. 152 ) trapezoidal, surface mostly smooth, faint lines of sculpture present near anterior and posterior margins; epimeral sutures incomplete and short. Five major pairs of pronotal setae, one pair on epimeral region; am reduced or absent, aa, ml, ep and pa well-developed and with slightly expanded tips. Basantra absent; prosternal ferna well-developed, almost touching medially. Mesonotum ( Fig. 154 ) with very faint reticulation medially, sometimes not visible or absent, elongate reticles or transverse lines laterally; internal markings on sculpture absent. Metanotum ( Fig. 158 ) with few elongated reticles medially, irregular longitudinal lines laterally forming a striate pattern, internal markings on sculpture absent; one to three pairs of anterior discal setae and one pair of median major setae present. Fore tarsal hamus greatly enlarged, pointing sideways and extending beyond lateral margin of tarsus ( Fig. 153 ). Fore wings with 3 to 7 duplicated cilia.

Pelta ( Fig. 155 ) triangular with somewhat irregular margins, anterior margin acute ending in a straight tip, with lateral wings; multiple campaniform sensilla present, usually 4–5. Sculpture present anteromedially but weaker or absent laterally and posteriorly; irregular reticles surrounded by elongated ones medially, weak irregular lines laterally, internal markings on sculpture absent. Tergite II with irregular reticulation, weaker posteriorly and elongate laterally; sculpture less defined on further tergites. Tergites II–VII with three pairs of wing retaining setae. Tergite IX setae S1, S2 and S3 with finely acute apexes. Tube about 0.7–0.9 of head length and about 2 times as long as greatest width near base, apical width about 0.5 of basal width. Spermatheca ( Fig. 156 ) swollen medially.

Measurements (female holotype in microns): Length about 2133; head length 230, width behind eyes 187, po length 85, eye dorsal length 95; median length of pronotum 162, width across ep 270, am 30, aa 57, ml 110, ep 125, pa 129; width of mesonotum 262; fore wing length 960; tergite IX setae S1 205, S2 250, S3 212; tergite X length 192, basal width 86, apical width 45; length(width) of antennal segments III–VIII 57 (32), 47(35), 52(35), 47(32), 47(26), 37(15), respectively.

Macropterous male: Similar to female in both colouration and structure, but slightly smaller. Pore plates ( Fig. 157 ) with punctuate texture and present on sternites VII–VIII: VII with irregular faint spots posterior to discal setae, VIII with an irregular transverse band posterior to discal setae.

Measurements (male paratype in microns): Length about 1955; head length 216, width behind eyes 157, po length 75, eye dorsal length 82; median length of pronotum 155, width across ep 227, aa 45, ml 87, ep 100, pa 107; width of mesonotum 237; fore wing length 860; tergite IX setae S1 167, S2 195, S3 172; tergite X length 150, basal width 75, apical width 40; length(width) of antennal segments III–VIII 50 (32), 40(32), 45(32), 42(27), 42(22), 32(10), respectively.

Larvae: body pale without red internal pigmentation, abdominal segments IX–X light brown.

Material studied. Holotype female, Brazil, São Paulo, Paranapiacaba , in leaf galls of cf. Miconia sp., 21.x.2006 (Kaminski, L.A.), at UFRGS . Slide code UFRGS 0 962 .

Paratypes: 15 males, 34 females and 3 larvae collected with holotype, at UFRGS . 1 male and 2 females collected with holotype, at ANIC .

Non-type specimens: 1 male, 6 females and 1 larva collected with holotype, at UFRGS.

Etymology. Named in reference to the greatly enlarged fore tarsal hamus this species bears.

Comments. Holopothrips longihamus is one of the three species within the genus with an enlarged fore tarsal hamus, and the only one where the hamus is both thickened and elongate, extending beyond the lateral margin of tarsus ( Fig. 153 ). Another curious trait is the frequent presence of at least four or five campaniform sensilla irregularly placed on the pelta ( Fig. 155 ), contrasting with the usual symmetrical pair seen in other Holopothrips . This species also has elongate pronotal setae, with ep and pa easily surpassing 100 µm long, and somewhat stout fore femora ( Fig. 152 ). Holopothrips longihamus induces marginal rolled-leaf galls in an undetermined Melastomataceae tree.

Figures

FIGURES 151–158. Holopothrips longihamus sp. nov. holotype and paratypes. (151) body; (152) head and pronotum; (153) antenna and fore tarsus, showing the enlarged hamus (black arrow); (154) mesonotum; (155) pelta, showing the multiple campaniform sensilla (black arrows); (156) spermatheca; (157) male sternite VIII, showing weak spots, which may be the pore plates (white arrows); (158) metanotum.