Neosmerinthothrips barrowi Mound & Tree 2021, sp.n.
Creators: name: Mound, Laurence A.
name: Tree, Desley J.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Thysanoptera
Phlaeothripidae
Neosmerinthothrips
Neosmerinthothrips barrowi

description: Neosmerinthothrips barrowi sp.n.
(Figs 5, 17, 27, 36)
Female microptera. Body brown to dark brown with tube black; legs brown with tibiae and tarsi paler; antennal segment I dark brown, II yellow in apical half, III–V largely dark yellow changing to pale brown distally, VI light brown, VII–VIII darker; major setae dark brown. Head longer than wide, with weak sculpture posterolaterally; compound eyes smaller ventrally than dorsally, posterior ocelli close to eye margin; maxillary stylets retracted to po setae, about one third of head width apart po setae exceptionally long (Fig. 17). Antennae 8-segmented, VIII unusually short; segment III with 2 sense cones, IV with 4, the length of the sense cones is less than half the apical width of their segment (Fig. 27). Pronotum short, with almost no sculpture lines, 5 pairs of major setae well-developed, notopleural sutures complete. Mesonotal lateral setae small; metanotum with almost no sculpture medially. Prosternal basantra apparently present, ferna sub-circular, mesopresternum transverse but slender; metathoracic sternopleural sutures long. Fore tarsus with small tooth on inner apical margin. Fore wing lobe length about half of pterothorax width, with 3 dark sub-basal setae. Pelta reticulate, hat-shaped (Fig. 36); tergites II–VI each with one pair of wing-retaining setae, weakly sigmoid on III–V but straight on II and VI; lateral setae increasingly elongate on posterior tergites, on IX much longer than tube (Fig. 5); tube robust, narrowing to anal ring, anal setae about as long as tube. Sternites with median length much greater than the length of their tergite; up to 20 very small discal setae in transverse row medially; posteromarginal setae less than half as long as their sternite.
Measurements (holotype female in microns). Body length 2900. Head, length 325; width 250; po setae 160. Pronotum, length 140; width 325; major setae—am 65, aa 45, ml 65, epim 100, pa 100. Fore wing lobe 220. Tergite IV median length 120; sternite IV median length 200. Tergite VII longest lateral seta 280. Tergite IX setae—S1 350, S2 330, S3 280. Tube, length 215; maximum width 150; minimum width 60. Antennal segments III–VIII length 110, 100, 85, 70, 50, 30.
Female macroptera. Very similar in structure and sculpture to microptera. Fore wing pale with area around subbasal setae shaded, with about 20 duplicated cilia.
Measurements (paratype female same locality as holotype). Body length 2500. Head length 300. Tube length 200. Fore wing length 900.
Male microptera. Colour and structure differing from female as follows: Fore femora swollen, fore tarsal tooth stout and about as long as tarsal width. Pronotum robust with prominent median longitudinal apodeme but no sculpture. Tergal wing-retaining setae not sigmoid.
Measurements (paratype male same locality as holotype). Body length 2600. Head length 340. Pronotum, length 220; width 370. Tergite IX setae S1 280. Tube length 200.
Specimens studied. Holotype female microptera, Western Australia, Barrow Island, beaten from vegetation, v.2007 (S. Callan), in ANIC.
Paratypes: 8 female macropterae, 3 male micropterae from same locality as holotype, iv–v.2005 (J. Majer). Western Australia, Broome, Willie Creek, 1 female, 1 male macropterae from Acacia stems, 2.iii.2005.
Comments. In the key by Mound (1974b) this species runs to parvidens from Panama, based on the dark basal antennal segments, the pale fore wings, and the presence of a fore tarsal tooth in females. It differs from parvidens in having the head considerably more elongate (in parvidens only 1.1 times as long as wide and 1.1 times as long as the tube), and the major setae all dark brown rather than pale. The available specimens vary greatly in body size and setal lengths. The body length of the paratype female taken near Broome is 2300 microns whereas the largest female from Barrow Island is 3100 microns long. The specimen selected as holotype is the only micropterous female; the macropterae from the same site are all damaged due to having been collected with a suction apparatus but are remarkable similar in structural details to the holotype microptera. The presence or absence of the prosternal basantra is difficult to determine, but in this species the prosternal chitinous islets appear to be fused into a pair of sclerites.
description: Published as part of Mound, Laurence A. & Tree, Desley J., 2021, Tubuliferous Thysanoptera inAustralia with an enlarged tenth abdominal segment (Phlaeothripidae, Idolothripinae), including six new species, pp. 167-181 in Zootaxa 4951 (1) on pages 172-173, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4951.1.9, http://zenodo.org/record/4655899