Callococcithrips, Mound, Laurence A. & Wells, Alice, 2007

Mound, Laurence A. & Wells, Alice, 2007, A new genus for an Australian thrips (Thysanoptera, Phlaeothripinae) presumed predatory on a waxy eriococcid (Hemiptera, Coccoidea), Zootaxa 1645, pp. 57-61 : 58-59

Callococcithrips gen.n.

Type-species Rhynchothrips fuscipennis Moulton.

Macropterous dark brown Phlaeothripinae . Antennae 8-segmented, III with one sensorium, IV with 3+1 sensoria, VIII not constricted at base. Head slightly wider than long, eyes smaller ventrally than dorsally, postocular setae scarcely reaching posterior margin of eyes; maxillary stylets retracted to posterior ocelli, crossing over medially and with a slight loop laterally at base of mouth cone ( Fig. 1 ); maxillary guides stout and curved; mouth cone extending between fore coxae. Pronotum reticulate, with 5 pairs of major setae, am, ml and pa pairs shorter than aa and epim pairs. Metanotum reticulate, medially with one pair of small setae. Prosternal basantra not developed, mesopraesternum reduced to pair of lateral triangles, metathoracic sternopleural sutures well developed ( Fig. 2 ). Both sexes with large fore tarsal tooth; fore femora swollen in large males. Forewing without duplicated cilia; sub-basal setae arranged in straight line. Pelta reticulate, triangular but with apex truncate; tergites reticulate laterally, almost striate medially, II–VII each with two pairs of wingretaining setae; tergite IX with three pairs of capitate setae, S 2 in male 0.5 as long as S1; tube shorter than head. Male sternite VIII with transverse glandular area anterior to discal setae.

Relationships. This new genus is a member of the Liothrips -lineage of leaf-feeding Phlaeothripinae ( Mound & Minaei, 2007), and presumably is derived from within the ill-defined Teuchothrips -complex. Currently, there is no satisfactory definition of the genus Teuchothrips Hood , and the 29 species listed under this generic name (Mound, 2007) are not all congeneric. In addition to these 29 species, there is in Australia a large suite of species, mostly undescribed, feeding on the leaves of a wide range of unrelated plants and often inducing galls or leaf deformation. Without further studies on this suite of species, the genus Teuchothrips , and its relationships to the large and worldwide genus Liothrips Uzel , will remain undefined. The type species of the new genus proposed here is referred to as “Teucho Leptospermum” in the phylogram provided by Mound & Morris (2007), based on two genes from several Australian Phlaeothripinae . These molecular data place the species within the clade of the Teuchothrips -complex. However, unlike the species currently assigned to Teuchothrips , the maxillary stylets of C. fuscipennis are unusually elongate, crossing over each other in the head ( Fig. 1 ). A second species, known only from a single female collected in Western Australia, is also transferred to this genus. This condition of exceptionally elongate stylets is otherwise found in Phlaeothripinae only in species of the genus Heligmothrips Mound , all of which have duplicated cilia on the forewing, and feed only on Casuarina foliage. The two species placed in Callococcithrips lack duplicated cilia on the forewings, in contrast to all but two species listed in Teuchothrips . However, T. simplicipennis Hood and T. froggatti (Bagnall) have maxillary stylets of normal length, and are considered to be phytophagous.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 2. Callococcithrips fuscipennis. 1, Head and pronotum; 2, Thoracic sternites. (photomicrograph by Dena Paris).