Ficothrips moundi, Minaei, Kambiz, 2012

Minaei, Kambiz, 2012, Ficothrips, a new genus of Thripinae Thysanoptera from Iran, Zootaxa 3361, pp. 63-68 : 66-67

Ficothrips moundi sp. n.

Female macroptera. Body including antennae yellowish brown, pronotum and terminal abdominal segments lighter, fore wing shaded; major setae on head, pronotum and tergites yellow. With character states in the generic diagnosis. Head with transverse reticulation behind eyes, ocellar region with little or no sculpture; ocellar setae III at least twice as long as ocellar setae I and II. Pronotum with transverse lines of sculpture. Fore wing first vein with about 9 setae on basal half and 3 setae distributed along distal half; second vein with about 12 setae; clavus with 4 veinal setae and 1 discal seta. Abdominal tergites II–VII with weak sculpture medially, VIII without comb of microtrichia, IX median dorsal setae not extending to posterior margin and situated laterally.

Measurements (holotype female, in microns). Body length 1258. Head, length 80; width across eyes 127. Pronotum, length 126; maximum width 156. Fore wing, length 635; median width 54. Tergite IX, mid-dorsal setae 20; S1 setae 92. Tergite X S1 setae 68. Antennal segments III–IX, 33, 30, 28, 25, 10, 10, 16.

Male macroptera Smaller and paler than female; tergite IX with a pair of curved and divided process.

Measurements (paratype male in microns). Body length 970. Head, length 67; width across eyes 81. Pronotum, length 111; maximum width 125. Fore wing, length 523; median width 36. Tergite IX S1 setae 90. Antennal segments III–IX, 34, 27, 23, 20, 10, 9, 14.

Material studied. Holotype female macroptera, IRAN, Fars province, Shiraz, Badjgah, from Ficus carica (Moraceae) , 10.viii.2011 (KM498).

Paratypes: 2 females taken with holotype; same locality and date; Fars province, Estahban, 4 females from Ficus carica , 27.vii.2011 (Negar Daneshnia); Badjgah, 4 females, 1 male from Ficus carica , 25.ix.2011 (KM 566, KM567).

The holotype and paratypes are deposited in the collection of the Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, Shiraz University; two females are deposited in the Australian National Insect Collection, Canberra.

Comments. Each of the three available samples was collected on fig leaves infested by fig mite, Eotetranychus hirsti Pritchard & Baker ( Prostigmata : Tetranychidae ) ( Fig. 1 ). However, Without further studies it is not certain that F. moundi is a predator on these mites. Species in the two genera Scolothrips and Parascolothrips are recognized as mite predators, although predation by the sole species in Parascolothrips has not been well documented. Parascolothrips priesneri was described from specimens collected on apple in Iraq ( Mound 1967), and recently Laurence Mound (personal communication) has identified this species from apple trees in Israel. zur Strassen (1995) records this thrips from a pomegranate tree infested by mealy bugs in Iran, and zur Strassen (2003) states that it is a predator of Tetranychidae on Malus , Punica , Pyracantha and Vitis .

The long setae on the head and pronotum are a character common to the species of three genera, although the number of anntenal segments is quite different. The antennae in Parascolothrips are 7-segmented, in Scolothrips species 8-segmented, and in Ficothrips 9-segmented. Morover, P. priesneri and most species in Scolothrips have a dark band on the fore wings, but this is not so in F. moundi . In Scolothrips species there are six pairs of long pronotal setae (five pairs in S. ochoa ) (see Mound et al. 2010), but only four pairs in both F. moundi and P. p r i e s n e r i.

Besides these, P. p r i e s n e r i lacks ocellar setae pair I on the head, whereas these setae are present in F. moundi and species of Scolothrips , and the tarsi are 1-segmented in P. p r i e s n e r i but 2-segmented in the other species. Morover, males of F. moundi have no sterna pore plates, whereas these are present in males of Scolothrips and Parascolothrips .

In contrast to the species in Scolothrips ( Mound 2011; Masumoto et al. 2012) there are no biological studies on the feeding behavior of P. p r ie s n e r i and F. moundi . Furthermore, in the absence of molecular studies it is not possible to deduce the relationships among these three genera.

Etymology. Forty-five years ago, Parascolothrips priesneri was named in honor of the seventy fifth birthday of Herman Priesner, "the doyen of Thysanopterists”. The present author is grateful to Laurence Mound for extensive collaboration (see Minaei et al. 2007a, b; Minaei & Mound 2008; Minaei & Mound (2010a, b), and for his mentorship in studies on Thysanoptera by encouraging a deep view into their biology and ecology (see Funderburk & Hoddle 2011). I name this new species in appreciation of his encouragement, and to mark his seventy-eighth birthday in April 2012.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 8. (1) Fig garden (mixed with grape), Badjgah, type locality. F. moundi (2) head, ventral; (3) head & pronotum; (4) mesonotum & metanotum; (5) fore wing; (6) clavus (7) abdominal tergites VIII – X; (8) abdominal pleurotergites.