Mycterothrips zagrosi, Minaei, Kambiz, Alichi, Mahmood, Fekrat, Lida, Aleosfoor, Maryam & Alavi, Jalil, 2017

Minaei, Kambiz, Alichi, Mahmood, Fekrat, Lida, Aleosfoor, Maryam & Alavi, Jalil, 2017, Leaf-feeding Mycterothrips: two new species from southern Iran (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), Zootaxa 4243 (1), pp. 195-200 : 198-199

Mycterothrips zagrosi sp. n.

( Figs 2, 4, 5, 8, 9 , 12, 14)

Female macroptera. Body pale brown; major body setae yellowish brown, those on head pale; antennal segment I yellow, II brown, III yellow, slightly shaded at apex, IV pale brown with base yellow, V–VIII shaded ( Fig. 2 ); legs mainly pale, fore legs a little paler than mid- and hind legs; fore wings and scales uniformly yellowish brown; head with round brown marking between ocelli; mesonotum shaded at anterior margin and mediolaterally; metanotum shaded; abdominal tergites II–VIII with dark ridge along median area between antecostal and medial line, tergites IX–X pale brown.

Head wider than long, with three pairs of ocellar setae, pair III situated between posterior ocelli, five pairs of postocular setae present, I longer than others, II is smallest ( Fig. 4 ). Pronotum wider than long, with two pairs of long posteroangular setae and one pair of posteromarginal setae ( Fig. 8 ), with 12–15 discal setae; mesonotum with or without one pair of campaniform sensilla anteromedially (campaniform sensilla are present in holotype), median pair of setae far from posterior margin ( Fig. 5 ); metascutum weakly and irregularly reticulate medially, median pair of setae situated near anterior margin; meso- and metasternum with developed spinula. First vein of fore wings with a median long gap in setal row, with 8–9 basal and 2 distal setae, second vein with 7–10 setae, posterior fringe cilia wavy ( Fig. 9 ); scale with 5 veinal and 1 discal setae.

Lateral thirds of abdominal tergites and pleurotergites with ciliate microtrichia on lines of sculpture (Fig. 14); tergite II with 3 lateral marginal setae; tergites VI to VIII with S4 setae developed; tergite VIII with complete posteromarginal comb of fine and long microtrichia, the comb is distinctly wider at base (Fig. 12); tergite IX without campaniform sensilla (Fig. 12); tergite X without a median split; sternites without discal setae and pore plate; median pair of setae of VII situated at posterior margin. Ovipositor well developed.

Measurements (holotype female in microns): Body length 1330. Head length (width) 112 (173), ocellar setae III length 30, postocular setae I length 13. Pronotum length (width) 115 (210), posteroangular setae I length 45, setae II length 38. Fore wings length 840. Tergite IX S1 setae length 66, S2 setae length 51, S3 setae length 78. Antennal segments III to VIII length: 46, 42, 40, 50, 14, 18.

Male not known.

Material studied. Holotype female, IRAN, Fars province, Shiraz , on Amygdalus scoparia , 2.v.2016 (KM 1447).

Paratypes: from same locality, date and host as holotype, 1 female ; same locality and plant, 5 females, 22.iv.2016 (KM 1429) ; same locality and plant, 1 female, 5.v.2016 (KM 1453).

Non type materials: Sarvestan, 100 km west of Shiraz, same plant, 1 female, 29.iv.2016 (KM 1430).

Comments. Mycterothrips z agrosi is unusual in the genus in having just one pair of setae on the posterior margin of the pronotum. However, as pointed out by Alavi et al. (2013), this character should be used with caution due to variation in one species (see also Minaei et al. 2012). Furthermore, the structure of the posteromarginal comb on tergite VIII is unique amongst Mycterothrips species, in that the microtrichia share their bases in M. zagrosi whereas in other members of the genus the comb microtrichia are fully separate from each other.

Judging from Masumoto and Okajima (2006) and Alavi et al. (2013) the new species is close to the Japanese species, M. glycines as well as another Iranian species, M. sanubari , in the following character states: abdominal sternites without discal setae, abdominal tergites and laterotergites with ciliate microtrichia along lines of sculpture laterally, and antennal segment VI longer than IV. However, the new species is different from both species in having antennal segment II almost pale (vs. brown in both glycines and sanubaria), abdominal tergite II with three lateral marginal setae (instead of four in both glycines and sanubaria), tergite IX without campaniform sensilla (rarely a single one present) (vs. two pairs in both glycines and sanubaria), tergites VII–VIII with S4 welldeveloped (vs. minute in both glycines and sanubaria). M. zagrosi is also distinguished from glycines by the following characters: antennal segment VI the longest (vs. III the longest in M. glycines ), pronotum with less than 20 discal setae (vs. about 40 discal setae in M. glycines ), mesonotum with campaniform sensilla anteromedially (vs. absent in M. glycines ) and median pair of setae on sternite VII situated at the posterior margin in contrast to in front of posterior margin in M. glycines .

Etymology. The new species described here is collected in the Zagros Mountains around Shiraz.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 10. Mycterothrips species. Antennae 1 – 2: (1) doostii; (2) zagrosi. Head 3 – 4: (3) doostii; (4) zagrosi. (5) Mesonotum, zagrosi. (6) Meso and metanotum, doostii. Pronotum 7 – 8: (7) doostii; (8) zagrosi. (9) Fore wing, zagrosi. (10) Head and pronotum, doostii (male).