Asprothrips bucerus, Tong, Xiaoli, Wang, Zhaohong & Mirab-Balou, Majid, 2016

Tong, Xiaoli, Wang, Zhaohong & Mirab-Balou, Majid, 2016, Two new species and one new record of the genus Asprothrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) from China, Zootaxa 4061 (2), pp. 181-188 : 182-185

Asprothrips bucerus sp. n.

( Figs 3–4 , 7–13 , 22 )

Female. Macroptera ( Fig 3 ). Body generally brown, abdomen slightly paler than head and thorax. Antennae dark brown except for segment I yellowish brown, segments VI–VIII lighter than II–V ( Fig 8 ). Fore wing greyish brown ( Fig 13 ). All femora and tibiae brown but tarsi yellow. Abdominal tergites I–VII brown laterally and VIII–X brown, tergite I yellowish brown with a dark brown spot anteromedially ( Fig 3 ), tergites II–VII yellowish brown medially with a dark brown spot posteromedially ( Figs 11–12 ).

Head ( Fig 7 ) 1.8–2.0 times as wide as long; two pairs of minute ocellar setae present, pair II situated at middle between anterior ocellus and compound eye, pair III arising near anterior margin of posterior ocelli within ocellar triangle; postocular setal row of four setae extending near cheeks; vertex between eyes including ocellar triangle sculptured with irregularly reticulation, occipital region of vertex sculptured with transverse dotted lines. Mouth cone short and rounded. Antennal segment II largest, globular with ridges on striae, III small and pedicellate ( Fig 8 ), IV longest, longer than VI; V with short pedicel and a small simple outer sense cone, VI with 3 sense cones, inner one longest arising medially, reaching apex of segment VIII; microtrichia rows present on segments III–V, segment III with 3 microtrichia rows, IV with 5 dorsal rows, V with 3 rows, VI with only a few sparse microtrichia.

Pronotum ( Fig 7 ) transverse approximately twice as wide as long, sculptured with transverse dotted lines on anterior half, posterior fourth with some anastomosing striae bearing numerous internal granules, with about 40 minute discal setae and 4 pairs of posteromarginal setae. Mesonotum ( Fig 10 ) with transverse anastomosing striae without internal wrinkles or granules, two campaniform sensilla on anterior fourth, median setal pair situated far from posterior margin. Metanotum ( Fig 10 ) reticulate medially with wrinkles between reticles, median setae far back from anterior margin, campaniform sensilla absent. Leg surface reticulate, all tarsi 2-segmented. Fore wing costa with 22–24 setae, first vein with 8 proximal and 2 distal setae, second vein with 9–11 setae; main posterior fringe hairs straight except for some fine hairs weakly wavy; microtrichia of fore wing only present on two veins, along margins and apical sixth, not uniformly covering surface of fore wing.

Abdominal tergites I–VII laterally with strong transverse sculpture lines bearing short microtrichia on anterior 1/3 and tuberculate microtrichia on posterior 2/3, smooth between setal pair S2 ( Fig 11 ); paired campaniform sensilla between setae S1 and S2, much closer to S2 on tergites II–VII; VIII–IX entirely covered with strong transverse sculpture bearing tuberculate microtrichia except for groove medially; VIII with posteromarginal comb, but minute medially; posterior margin of IX overhanging X, medially with a pair of short horn-like setae directed medially ( Fig 12 ); tergite X with incomplete longitudinal dorsal split, divided only in distal half. Abdominal sternites II–VII sculptured with transverse anastomosing smooth striae; II with 2 pairs of setae on posterior margin, III–VII each with 3 pairs.

Measurements (holotype female in microns). Total distended body length 1100. Head length (width) 85 (170); eye length (width) 62 (38). Pronotum length (width) 100 (200). Length of antenna 190; length (width) of antennal segments I 24 (28), II 24 (31), III 34 (22), IV 36 (22), V 25 (19), VI 25 (13), VII 10 (6) and VIII 12 (4). Fore wing length 630.

Male. Macroptera ( Fig 4 ). Similar in structure but different in color to female. Body generally brown except abdomen much paler than head and thorax. Antennal segments I–II yellow, III yellowish brown, IV–VIII brown ( Fig 9 ). Fore wing greyish brown. Fore and mid legs brown, hind leg yellow. Abdominal tergites I–III yellowish brown, II–VII brown laterally but yellow between setal pair S2 except for brown spot posteromedially, VIII–X brown. Abdominal sternites without pore plates. Paramere shape of genitalia as Figure 22 .

Measurements (paratype male in microns). Total distended body length 895. Head length (width) 65(145); eye length (width) 55 (35). Pronotum length (width) 88 (167). Length of antenna 175; length (width) of antennal s egments I 22 (24), II 22 (26), III 30 (19), IV 32 (20), V 26 (17), VI 22 (14), VII 9 (6), VIII 12 (4). Fore wing length 550.

Specimens examined. Holotype female (in SCAU): CHINA, Guizhou: Maolan National Nature Reserve, Weng’ang (25°14' 12″N, 107°52'30″E), collected from Viburnum henryi (Caprifoliaceae) , 19.vii.2015 (Zhaohong Wang).

Paratypes (in SCAU): 5 males, 2 females from Viburnum henryi (Caprifoliaceae) , collected with holotype, 1 male, 1 female from Beilschmiedia kweichowensis (Lauraceae) , same locality and collector. Guangdong, Xinyi City, Mt. Tianmashan (22°27'N, 110°41'E), 4 females on 11.vi.2011 and 6 females on 18.ix.2011 (Tao Song), both from Sarcandra glabra (Chloranthaceae) . Gaozhou City, Yuntan Town, Mt. Sanguanshan, 2 females from Syzygium jambos (Myrtaceae) , on 5.ix.2015 (Zhaohong Wang).

Non-paratype: CHINA, Guangdong, Boluo County, Mt. Luofushan (23°16'N, 114°03'E), 1 female, from Cinnamomum camphora (Lauraceae) , 14.x.1976 (Weiqiu Zhang).

Distribution. China (Guizhou, Guangdong)

Etymology. The specific epithet, bucerus , is from the Latin adjective, meaning “horned”, in reference to the posterior margin of abdominal tergite IX in female having a pair of short horn-like setae medially.

Comments. According to the collection records above, this species is associated with a wide range of unrelated plants. It is similar to fuscipennis in having the body, antennae and fore wing brown, but is distinguished by the following combination of characteristics: (1) segment I yellowish brown and segment IV longest; (2) tergite IX entirely covered with strong transverse sculpture bearing tuberculate microtrichia and posterior margin with a pair of short horn-like setae medially; (3) tergite X with incomplete longitudinal dorsal split, divided only in distal half. In contrast, the antennae of fuscipennis are uniformly greyish brown with segment VI longest; tergite IX reticulate anteriorly and striate posteriorly, posterior margin with pair of long fine setae medially; tergite X with complete longitudinal dorsal split. Zhang & Tong (1988) identified one poorly preserved specimen of this new species as fuscipennis . At that time, this was the only specimen of Asprothrips known from China, therefore fuscipennis has not yet been recorded from this country.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 6. Asprothrips bimaculatus: (1) female; (2) male. Asprothrips bucerus n. sp.: (3) female; (4) male. Asprothrips punctulosus n. sp.: (5) female; (6) male.

FIGURES 7 – 13. Asprothrips bucerus n. sp.: (7) head and pronotum; (8) antenna of female; (9) antenna of male; (10) meso- and metanotum; (11) abdominal tergites IV – VI; (12) abdominal tergites IX – X; (13) fore wing.

FIGURES 21 – 23. Paramere shape of male genitalia; (21) A. bimaculatus; (22) A. bucerus n. sp.; (23) A. punctulosus n. sp.