Haplothrips anceps Hood, 1918

Mound, Laurence A., 2019, Identification of Haplothrips species from Malesia (Thysanoptera, Phlaeothripinae), Zootaxa 4623 (1), pp. 41-50 : 43

Haplothrips anceps Hood

Haplothrips anceps Hood, 1918: 129 .

( Figs 8 , 15 )

This species was described from Nelson [Gordonvale] near Cairns in northern Queensland, Australia. It is widespread in northern Australia, and specimens have been studied from northeastern Queensland north of Cairns and from Torres Straits Islands, also from Northern Territory around Darwin and the Coburg Peninsula, and from Western Australia between Broome and Kununurra. Many specimens have also been studied from Sarawak in East Malaysia, from Timor-Leste, Laos, and Thailand, as well as from southern China in Hunan and Guizhou Provinces; all of these specimens are available in the Australian National Insect Collection, Canberra. These specimens, of both sexes, all have dark pronotal setae, in contrast to specimens of the structurally similar species, H. ganglebaueri , that is common across much of Australia. The shaded area at the base of the fore wing in H. anceps is generally smaller than in H. ganglebaueri . Moreover, there is a fairly consistent difference in host associations, with H. ganglebaueri breeding in the flowers of Poaceae and Cyperaceae , but H. anceps breeding in the flowers of various dicotyledonous plants. A further name that needs to be considered when studying the Haplothrips of countries to the north of Australia is H. chinensis Priesner. This was described from Hong Kong, and Asian specimens identified as H. chinensis cannot at present, be distinguished satisfactorily from Australian specimens identified as H. anceps . This is not a simple case of synonymy, because Okajima (2006) indicated that the females of H. chinensis cannot be distinguished from females of H. brevitubus (Karny) , a species recorded from Japan and Korea. However, Okajima reported that the males of H. chinensis and H. brevitubus can be distinguished by a slight difference in the apex of the male aedeagus. The significance and validity of these three available names for thrips species that are often abundant in Asia requires further study.

Figures

FIGURES 1–8. Haplothrips species. H. aliceae (holotype) 1–5: (1) head & pronotum; (2) metanotum & pelta; (3) antenna; (4) prosternites; (5) mesonotum & wing base. Pronotum 6–8: (6) H. timori (holotype); (7) H. ganglebaueri; (8) H. anceps.

FIGURES 9–18. Haplothrips species. (9) H. certus head & pronotum; (10) H. anceps head & pronotum; (11) H. jordani head; (12) H. timori head; (13) H. certus fore tarsus. Antenna 14–17: (14) H. certus; (15) H. anceps; (16) H. ganglebaueri; (17) H. gowdeyi. (18) H. incognitus (type).