Original reference: Mound LA & Monteiro R (1998) A review of the genus Heliothrips (Thysanoptera; Thripidae), with a new sister-species of the Greenhouse Thrips from south-eastern Brazil. Journal of the New York Entomological Society 105: 154–160.
Body largely dark brown, including head and femora; tibia, tarsi and abdominal segments VIII–X yellow; antennal segments I–II & VII–VIII light brown, III–V yellow; fore wing pale but shaded along veins and at base, scale brown. Head strongly reticulate and constricted to a basal neck. Antennal segments III & IV each one with a simple and long sense cone; VIII elongated. Pronotum reticulate and without long setae. Meso and metathoracic endofurca without spinula and with short arms. Mesonotum without longitudinal division medially. Metanotum forming a bold reticulated triangle, median setae small and campaniform sensilla present. Tarsi short and 1-segmented. Fore wing with apex rounded; first and second row of setae incomplete. Abdominal tergites II–VIII with one pair of long setae medially; lateral thirds and anterior margin largely reticulated; VIII with a posteromarginal comb of microtrichia; X short and usually with complete longitudinal division. Sternites reticulate and with three pairs of small posteromarginal setae.
Male unknown.
Intraspecific variation
Antennal segment VI mainly dark brown with base variably paler. Abdomen lighter in freshly emerged adults.
Genus and similar species information
This genus belongs to the subfamily Panchaetothripinae and includes five Neotropical species. They have body strongly sculptured, simple and long sense cones on antennal segment III–IV, and fore wings with a distinctive rounded apex. Heliothrips zucchi is closely related to the common H. haemorrhoidalis, but is distinctive in having dark brown femora and antennal segment VI (Mound & Monteiro 1998). An illustrated key to neotropical Heliothrips species is given by Silva et al. (2024).
Breeds on leaves, but no host plant records are available.
Economic importance
Not recorded.
References suggested
Mound LA & Monteiro R (1998) A review of the genus Heliothrips (Thysanoptera; Thripidae), with a new sister-species of the Greenhouse Thrips from south-eastern Brazil. Journal of the New York Entomological Society 105: 154–160.
Nakahara S, O’Donnell CA & Mound LA (2015) Heliothrips haemorrhoidalis and its relatives, with one new species and one new genus (Thysanoptera). Zootaxa 4021 (4): 578–584.
