Body uniformly yellow, including legs; antennal segments II & V–VIII brown; III & IV yellowish on basal half; fore wing uniformly pale. Head with three pairs of ocellar setae, pair III minute and arising within ocellar triangle, on the tangent between anterior margins of posterior ocelli. Antennae 8-segmented, III & IV with forked sense cones; III with simple pedicel. Pronotum not sculptured and with two pairs of long posteroangular setae; setae on anterior margin not distinctively longer than discal setae. Mesothoracic spinula long, metathoracic spinula absent. Metanotum with transverse lines of sculpture anteriorly, reticulate posteromedially; campaniform sensilla present; two pairs of setae arising at anterior margin. Fore wing with first and second rows of setae complete and closely spaced.Abdominal tergites V–VIII with ctenidia laterally, ctenidia on VIII anterolateral to spiracle; VIII with a complete posteromarginal comb of microtrichia. Sternites without discal setae, with three pairs of long posteromarginal setae. Both sexes fully winged.
Male with transverse pore plates on abdominal sternites III–VII.
Intraspecific variation
Not recorded.
Genus and similar species information
Frankliniella is one of the largest genera amongst Thysanoptera, comprising more than 160 described species. About 90% of the species are from the Neotropics and their taxonomy is usually complex. Almost all members have 8-segmented antennae, three pairs of ocellar setae and fore wing with both rows of setae complete. About 40 species are recorded from Brazil, and almost half of these were described from this country. Frankliniella bertelsi can be distinguished from the other Frankliniella species by the minute ocellar setae III and the lack of long setae on the pronotal anterior margin. A key to Frankliniella species recorded from Brazil is provided by Cavalleri & Mound (2012).
