Liothrips chionanthes Mound & Dang & Tree 2023, sp.n.
Creators: name: Mound, Laurence A.
name: Dang, Lihong
name: Tree, Desley J.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Thysanoptera
Phlaeothripidae
Liothrips
Liothrips chionanthes

description: Liothrips chionanthes sp.n.
(Figs 18, 29)
Macropterous female. Body and legs dark brown, except fore tibiae light brown, tarsi brownish-yellow, mid and hind tarsi slightly paler, also extreme apices of mid and hind tibiae; antennal segment I dark, II paler at apex, III-V almost clear yellow, VI brown in apical half, VII–VIII brown; major setae brown; fore wing shaded with brown area around sub-basal setae. Head about 1.2 longer than wide, slightly narrowed to base; ocellar region subconical, posterior ocelli close to inner margin of eyes; eyes about one-third as long as head; postocular setae acute or slightly blunt at apex, about as long as eye length; maxillary stylets not retracted to postocular setae, medially about 0.3 of head width apart. Antennal segment III almost 2.0 times as long as wide, III with one sense-cone, IV with three; IV–VI evenly narrowed to basal neck; segment VIII not constricted at base. Pronotum with little sculpture, with four pairs of bluntly pointed major setae, anteromarginals very small (Fig. 29). Prosternal basantra absent, ferna wide apart, mesopresternum of two triangles weakly connected medially; metathoracic sternopleural sutures developed. Metanotum narrowly reticulate medially (Fig. 18), median setae slender and minute. Fore wing parallel sided, with about 15 duplicated cilia, three weakly pointed sub-basal setae. Pelta weakly reticulate, broadly triangular, with pair of campaniform sensilla; tergites II–VII with two pairs of sigmoid wing-retaining setae; tergal lateral setae all acute; tergite IX setae S1 and S2 pointed at apex, shorter than tube. Tube shorter than head, anal setae shorter than tube.
Measurements (holotype female in microns): Body length 3300. Head, length (median width) 290(225); postocular setae 95. Pronotum, length (median width) 200(375); major setae—am 10, aa 45, ml 75, epim 135, pa 100. Mesonotal lateral setae length 50. Metanotal median setae length 10. Fore wing length 1200; sub-basal setae 60, 80, 70. Tergite IX setae S1 250, S2 230. Tube, length 305; basal width 105; apical width 50. Antennal segments III–VIII, length (width) 90(40), 85(45), 60(40), 55(40), 65(30), 30(15).
Male macroptera. Similar to female, but smaller; fore tarsal tooth absent; tergite IX setae S1 shorter than tube, S3 longer than tube, S2 less than half of S 1 in length, with apex pointed; sternite VIII with an irregular long and narrow pore plate.
Measurements (paratype male in microns): Body length 2680. Head, length (median width) 265(205); postocular setae 85. Pronotum, length (median width) 175(315); major setae—am 10, aa 35, ml 60, epim 125, pa 105. Mesonotal lateral setae length 40. Metanotal median setae length 10. Fore wing length 950; sub-basal setae 60, 65, 70. Tergite IX setae S1 205, S2 80, S3 255. Tube, length 240; basal width 95; apical width 45. Antennal segments III–VIII, length (width) 80(35), 80(40), 75(40), 70(35), 50(25), 35(15).
Specimens studied. Holotype female, AUSTRALIA, Queensland, Behana Gorge, 30km south of Cairns, 3.xi.2008 (LAM 5182) in ANIC.
Paratypes: 2 females, 1 male taken with holotype; Queensland, Cairns, 1 male (with larvae) from Chionanthus, 14.ii.1998; Cooktown to Rossville, 2 females, 2 males from? Chionanthus, 11.xi.2010 (in ANIC).
Comments. As indicated by the key above, this species is one of a group of at least three species that are particularly similar to each other in structure.Antennal segment III is intermediate in length between that of chavicae and umbratus. The metanotal sculpture is distinct from that of chavicae but it is similar to that of umbratus (Figs 17, 18, 23). This new species is very similar to umbratus, of which three specimens have also been collected from Chionanthus leaves.
description: Published as part of Mound, Laurence A., Dang, Lihong & Tree, Desley J., 2023, The genus Liothrips (Thysanoptera, Phlaeothripidae) in Australia, pp. 201-214 in Zootaxa 5306 (2) on page 208, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5306.2.2, http://zenodo.org/record/8058695