Holopothrips graziae, 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 : 40-42

Holopothrips graziae sp. n.

( Figs 95–98 )

Diagnostic features. Body mostly yellow, with head and abdominal segment VIII bicoloured, abdominal segments IX–X fully brown; head clearly longer than wide, with maxillary stylets parallel; one pair of long pronotal setae on epimeral region; metanotal sculpture with equiangular reticulation; male with three pore plates on sternites VII– VIII; female spermatheca not enlarged.

Macropterous female: Body ( Fig. 95 ) bicoloured, mostly yellowish white with anteriomedian region of head, abdominal segments IX–X and posterior area of segment VIII brown. Antennal segment I concolourous with apical half of head, II lighter brown, III brown basally and white apically, IV–VI white, VII–VIII shaded light brown. Fore wings hyaline, median dark line faintly indicated, clavus pale; major body setae yellowish white.

Head ( Fig. 96 ) about 1.5 times longer than width behind eyes, dorsal surface with faintly indicated transverse lines of sculpture, cheeks straight. Eyes well-developed, bean-shaped, dorsal length about 0.47 of head length; po with capitate apex, slightly shorter than the dorsal width of the eye. Maxillary stylets parallel, reaching slightly anterior to po and about a fifth of head width apart. Mouth cone with rounded tip, not reaching the anterior margin of ferna. Antennal segments III and IV with 3 sense cones each.

Pronotum ( Fig. 96 ) trapezoidal to rectangular, surface smooth; epimeral sutures incomplete and short. Three major pairs of pronotal setae, one pair on epimeral region; am small or reduced with acute tip, one pair of capitate setae on anteroangular area (which may be the actual aa or an anteriorly placed ml) ep and pa well-developed and capitate. Basantra absent; prosternal ferna well-developed, close medially but not touching. Mesonotum with irregular reticulation medially, which become transversely elongate reticles anteriorly and laterally; internal markings on sculpture absent. Metanotum with equiangular reticles, longitudinally elongated on extreme lateral, internal markings on sculpture absent; one pair of anterior discal setae and one pair of median major setae present. Fore tarsal hamus not enlarged. Fore wings with five to seven duplicated cilia.

Pelta triangular, anterior margin straight to rounded, without lateral wings; paired campaniform sensilla present. Sculpture weak but covering the whole pelta, formed by small elongate reticles medially, larger near margins, internal markings absent. Tergite II apparently smooth medially. Third pair of wing-retaining setae present on tergites II–VII. Tergite IX setae S1 with capitate apex, S2 blunt to capitate, S3 finely acute. Tube about 0.6 of head length and about 2.4 times as long as greatest width near base, apical width about 0.56 of basal width. Spermatheca ( Fig. 98 ) S-shaped and thin.

Measurements (female holotype in microns): Length about 2804, head length 325, width behind compound eyes 215, po length 69, eye dorsal length 151; median length of pronotum 152, width across ep 312, am 9, major setae on anterior angle 87, ep 97, pa 80; width of mesonotum 302; fore wing length 1020; tergite IX setae S1 162, S2 175, S3 135; tergite X length 207, basal width 85, apical width 47; length(width) of antennal segments III–VIII 92 (29), 75(27), 77(27), 70(24), 57(20), 37(10), respectively.

Macropterous male: Similar to female in both colouration and structure, but smaller and with abdominal segment VIII clear yellow. Pore plates ( Fig. 97 ) with punctuate texture and present on sternites VII–VIII, two anteroangular plates and one transverse plate posterior to discal setae.

Measurements (male paratype in microns): Length about 2192, head length 285, width behind compound eyes 180, po length 40, eye dorsal length 135; median length of pronotum 137, width across ep 252, am minute, major setae on anterior angle 52, ep 81, pa 60; width of mesonotum 250; fore wing length 840; tergite IX setae S1 150, S2 157, S3 147; tergite X length 167, basal width 70, apical width 40; length(width) of antennal segments III–VIII 87 (25), 72(25), 72(25), 62(22), 57(20), 32(10), respectively.

Material studied. Holotype female, Peru, Madre de Dios, Rio Tambopata reserve, 30 km SW of Pto. Maldonato, 290 m (12°50’S 69°20’W), fogging from ground on primary flood plain, 27.x.1983 (Stork, N. col.), at BMNH.

Paratypes: 2 males and 1 female collected with holotype, at BMNH.

Etymology. Species named after Dr. Jocélia Grazia.

Comments. Yet another strikingly bicoloured species within the genus, H. graziae is notable for its elongate bicoloured head ( Fig. 96 ). While H. carolinae , H. fulvus and H. inquilinus also have bicoloured heads, none of them has the head more than 1.25 times as long as width behind eyes. Furthermore, H. carolinae has abdominal segments VIII–IX yellow (IX is brown in H. graziae ), H. fulvus lacks a major pair of po and has curved cheeks, and H. inquilinus has two pairs of epimeral setae, while H. graziae has only one pair ( Fig. 96 ).

This species has been mentioned by the code “ sp. n. Peru ” in Mound & Marullo (1996). The four specimens from BMNH we studied were labelled by R.M. Johansen with an unavailable manuscript name.

Figures

FIGURES 95–98. Holopothrips graziae sp. nov. holotype and paratype. (95) body; (96) head and pronotum; (97) pore plates on abdominal sternites VII–VIII; (98) abdominal segments VIII–X, showing spermatheca.