Body mainly yellow, posterior half of head light brown, pronotum with small light brown areas laterally; abdominal tergites II–VII with antecostal ridge dark brown and associated small light brown areas anterolaterally, tergites VIII–X brownish yellow; fore wing uniformly pale brownish grey with apex paler; antennal segment I pale, II–IV light brown; legs yellow. Head with occipital apodeme not close to posterior margin of eyes, ocellar area apparently lacking sculpture lines, setal pair III just outside ocellar triangle; antennal segments III & IV with short constricted neck apically, sense cones elongate. Pronotum striate, posterior margin with 2 pairs of prominent setae, pronotal blotch not defined, transverse row of setae irregular; mesonotum striate, median setal pair anterior to the lateral; metanotum anterior half transversely striate, posterior half longitudinally striate, two pairs of setae on anterior margin; metasternal plate with shallow anterior emargination. Fore wing second vein with 2 setae distally. Abdominal tergites II–VI with comb of microtrichia incomplete medially, VII with minute teeth medially, VIII with complete comb; tergite IX with 2 pairs of mid-dorsal setae;sternites without microtrichia medially.
Male similar to female; sternites without pore plates.
Intraspecific variation
Not recorded.
Genus and similar species information
Almost 120 species are included in Neohydatothrips, most from tropical countries (Mound & Tree 2009). All of them have the abdominal sternites and lateral thirds of tergites covered by rows of fine microtrichia, with many of them being bicoloured and with banded fore wings. Neohydatothrips zucchi is unusual in having the comb of microtrichia on the posterior margin of tergite VII either interrupted or absent medially, and two pairs of prominent setae on the posterior margin of the pronotum; it is similar to N. luculentus, but has brown shadings on pronotum and abdominal tergites VII and VIII. A key to the Neotropical species of Neohydatothrips is provided by Lima & Mound (2016).
