Dactuliothrips ephedra Pereyra & Borbón, 2013, sp.n.
Creators: name: Pereyra, Veronica
name: Borbón, Carlos Manuel De
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2013
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Thysanoptera
Aeolothripidae
Dactuliothrips
Dactuliothrips ephedra

description: Dactuliothrips ephedra sp.n.
Female: Color brown (Fig. 4). Fore tibiae and tarsi lighter; fore wings light brown (Fig. 77); major setae dark brown; antennae dark, but segment III pale with apex dark and segment II with apical third-to-half pale (Fig. 12). Head (Fig. 21) longer than wide, reticulate striate without microtrichia, cheeks slightly arched. Ocellar setae III longer than ocellar setae I and II; bases of ocellar setae III inside ocellar triangle. Postocular setae I and III longer than the other postocular setae. Antennae with rings or annulations covered with microtrichia which are faint on segment I (Fig. 12). Antennal segments III–IV with two emergent sensoria at apex, one elongate but the other relatively oval (Fig. 19). Pronotum (Fig. 30) wider than long; reticulate striate; all major setae developed, five pairs on anterior margin, six longer pairs on posterior margin. Microtrichia absent on pronotum. Mesonotum reticulate striate (Fig. 38) with fine microtrichia on posterior three-quarters. Metanotum reticulate arcuate, covered with microtrichia anteromedially, with one pair of setae on anterior margin (Fig. 38). Fore tibia with two pairs of welldeveloped slightly curved setae on internal anterior margin; fore femora thickened and armed with between 4–6 heavy spurs on inner anterior margin (Fig. 72). Fore wings (Fig. 77) rounded at apex with five cross veins; fore vein with around 21 setae, hind vein with 19. Abdomen broad (Fig. 4) with rounded apex. Tergites with faint transverse reticulation with microtrichia laterally. Sternites with microtrichia, with 3–6 well-developed discal setae (Fig. 44); sternite VII with three pairs of posteromarginal setae and two pairs of smaller supernumerary setae aligned with the posteromarginal setae (Fig. 49).
Measurements: Female holotype (in microns). Total body length 1,810; head length 202, width 160; interocellar setae III 44; distance between their bases 21; postocular setae (outer) 54, (inner) 40. Pronotum length 131, width 204. Fore wing length 920, width 104. Antennal segments length (width): I, 34 (32); II, 44 (30); III, 67 (22); IV, 61 (22); V, 52 (20); VI, 57 (19); VII, 42 (18); VIII, 34 (15); IX, 44 (12).
Male: Smaller than female and similar in color (Fig. 5). Fore femur similar to female, with 3–4 heavy spurs on inner anterior margin (Fig. 73). Fore tibia with two setae developed on anterior margin. Abdominal tergite I with paired longitudinal ridges that do not reach the anterior margin (Fig. 55). Abdominal sternites without discal setae, with three pairs of posteromarginal setae and few sparse microtrichia (Fig. 59).
Measurements: Male paratype (in microns). Total body length 1,384; head length 188, width 146; interocellar setae III 31; distance between their bases 12; postocular setae (outer) 51, (inner) 31. Pronotum length 112, width 182. Fore wing length 800, width 110. Antennal segments length (width), I, 32 (32); II, 42 (28); III, 62 (23); IV, 59 (22); V, 45 (18); VI, 48 (18); VII, 40 (16); VIII, 32 (15); IX, 42 (12).
Material examined. Holotype female, USA, California, Joshua tree, on Ephedra sp. (Ephedraceae), 1.iv.2003 (I. Terry), in California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA. Paratypes: 6 females, 4 males same data as holotype, in the Natural History Museum, London; and ANIC.
Comments. This species is closely related to spinosus as they have lightly and uniformly colored fore wings and a pale antennal segment III. However, it can be distinguished easily from spinosus by the number and development of the major body setae, which are more numerous and larger in size in spinosus. Additionally, ephedra lacks microtrichia on the pronotum and has one elongate sensorium on antennal segments III & IV.
description: Published as part of Pereyra, Veronica & Borbón, Carlos Manuel De, 2013, The American genus Dactuliothrips (Thysanoptera: Aeolothripidae) with three new species, pp. 1-14 in Zootaxa 3734 (1) on page 4, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3734.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/285158