Holopothrips brevicapitatum, 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 : 25-27

Holopothrips brevicapitatum sp. n.

( Figs 39–44 )

Diagnostic features. Body (except antenna) uniformly brown; maxillary stylets V-shaped; one pair of long pronotal setae on epimeral region; metanotal sculpture irregularly striate; male with pore plates on sternites IV– VIII; female spermatheca enlarged medially.

Macropterous female: Body ( Fig. 39 ) uniformly dark brown, with fore tibia yellow shaded brown, all tarsi yellow, tergite X dark brown with apical half and extreme base lighter. Antennal segments I–II concolourous with head, II lighter on extreme apex, III yellow, IV yellow slightly shaded brown on apical half, V–VI yellow on basal half and light brown on apical half, VII light brown with extreme base lighter, VIII light brown. Fore wings weakly shaded, without median dark line, clavus shaded; major body setae yellowish brown.

Head ( Fig. 40 ) about 1.15 times as long as width behind eyes, dorsal surface with transverse lines of sculpture, cheeks straight to slightly curved. Eyes well-developed, dorsal length about 0.4 of head length; po with blunt apex, slightly shorter than the dorsal length of the eye. Maxillary stylets V-shaped, not reaching po and more than half of head width apart. Mouth cone with rounded tip, not reaching ferna. Antennal segment III with 3 sense cones and IV with 3 sense cones + 1 additional small sense cone.

Pronotum ( Fig. 40 ) trapezoidal, surface smooth medially, few transverse lines present near posterior margins; epimeral sutures incomplete and short. Five major pairs of pronotal setae, one pair on epimeral region; am reduced or absent, aa small and with blunt tip, ml, ep and pa well-developed and with slightly expanded tips. Basantra absent; prosternal ferna well-developed, not touching medially. Mesonotum with faint transverse lines, sometimes enclosing few irregular reticles; internal markings on sculpture absent. Metanotum ( Fig. 41 ) with longitudinal short lines forming a somewhat striate pattern, internal markings on sculpture absent; two or three anterior discal setae and one pair of median major setae present. Fore tarsal hamus slightly enlarged, sometimes projecting beyond lateral of tarsus. Fore wings with 6 to 11 duplicated cilia.

Pelta ( Fig. 44 ) triangular, anterior margin straight, no lateral wings; paired campaniform sensilla present, but at least one specimen without them was observed. Sculpture covering the whole pelta; irregular reticles anteromedially, elongated irregular reticles posteriorly, internal markings on sculpture absent. Tergite II with faint reticulation anteriorly, weaker or absent medially and posteriorly; 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 0.8 of head length and about 2.0 times as long as greatest width near base, apical width about 0.5 of basal width. Spermatheca ( Fig. 43 ) swollen medially.

Measurements (female holotype in microns): Length about 2034; head length 227, width behind eyes 202, po length 90, eye dorsal length 102; median length of pronotum 135, width across ep 265, am 24, aa 14, ml 80, ep 107, pa 102; width of mesonotum 287; fore wing length 890; tergite IX setae S1 220, S2 247, S3 205; tergite X length 192, basal width 90, apical width 45; length(width) of antennal segments III–VIII 65 (35), 50(34), 55(32), 52(27), 52(25), 37(10), respectively.

Macropterous male: Similar to female in both colouration and structure, but slightly smaller. Pore plates ( Fig. 42 ) with punctuate texture present on sternites IV–VIII: IV–V with two small anteroangular plates, and two reduced lateral plates posterior to discal setae; VI–VII with two anteroangular plates, and a transverse band posterior to discal setae, sometimes interrupted medially; VIII with two anteroangular plates, and a transverse band posterior to discal setae, not interrupted.

Measurements (male paratype in microns): Length about 2014; head length 222, width behind eyes 190, po length 72, eye dorsal length 99; median length of pronotum 145, width across ep 267, am 26, aa 11, ml 62, ep 102, pa 97; width of mesonotum 282; fore wing length 920; tergite IX setae S1 200, S2 225, S3 222; tergite X length 167, basal width 84, apical width 42; length(width) of antennal segments III–VIII 65 (32), 55(32), 62(31), 57(30), 50(22), 37(12), respectively.

Material studied. Holotype female, Brazil, Minas Gerais, Serra do Cipó , 1600 m, in Miconia sp. gall, 10.iv.2011 (Kaminski, L.A.), at UFRGS. Slide code UFRGS 1058 .

Paratypes: 5 males and 25 females collected with holotype, at UFRGS . 1 male and 2 females collected with holotype, at ANIC .

Etymology. Combination of Latin words brevis (small) and capitatum (head), in reference to the short head of the species.

Comments. Holopothrips brevicapitatum is unique within the genus for males having pore plates on sternites IV–VIII ( Fig. 42 ), while most Holopothrips species have pore plates restricted to sternites VI–VIII. Only H. signatus , H. singularis sp. n., H. varicolor sp. n. and specimens of possibly H. pictus have pore plates on sternite V, but never on IV. Another noteworthy trait of this species is the fore tarsal hamus being thin but apparently elongate, appearing to extend beyond the lateral margin of fore tarsus in some specimens. Holopothrips brevicapitatum have some similarities with H. affinis and H. omercooperi such as the V-shaped stylets and striate metanotum, but is quickly distinguished by the shorter head and male pore plates. Holopothrips brevicapitatum was found inducing rolled galls in Miconia young leaves ( Fig. 14 ) in Southeastern Brazil.

Figures

FIGURES 39–44. Holopothrips brevicapitatum sp. nov. holotype and paratypes. (39) body; (40) head and pronotum; (41) metanotal sculpture; (42) pore plates on abdominal sternites IV–VIII (black arrows); (43) spermatheca; (44) pelta.

FIGURES 10–15. Leaf-galls induced by Holopothrips (white arrows). (10) galls on Myrtaceae (by H. flavisetis); (11) galls on Acca sellowiana (by H. infestans); 12–13. galls on Ƒochysia cf. obovata (by H. kaminskii) (Photos: Lucas A. Kaminski): (12) general view; (13) opened gall; (14) galls on Miconia sp. (by H. brevicapitatum); (15) galls on Tabebuia heterophylla (by H. tabebuia) (Photo: Irma Cabrera).