Zeugmatothrips priesneri Hood, 1935: 102. 

Original reference: Hood JD (1935) Ten new Thysanoptera from Panama. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 48: 83-106.

Family

Phlaeothripidae, Idolothripinae

Nomenclatural information 

https://thrips.info/wiki/Zeugmatothrips_priesneri 

Diagnosis

Female macropterous; body color mainly dark brown, lighter on thorax and abdominal segments I and II; fore and hind femora almost white, mid femur brown basally and almost white apically, all tibiae white on extreme base, fore tibia yellow, mid and hind tibiae brown with yellow apex, all tarsi yellow; antennomeres I and II dark brown, III yellow with brown basal band, IV–VII yellow, VIII dark brown; wings pale brown, darker on anterior margin and with a brown median line. Antennae 8-segmented, antennomere III with 2 and IV with 2 sense cones, III shorter than IV; antennomeres I and III–V with one stout and capitate dorsal setae each. Head longer than wide, dorsal sculpture reticulated with internal markings;2 pairs of stout and capitate dorsal setae, median pair about as long as the postocular pair and located behind it; maxillary stylets parallel to each other, about half of head width apart, extending to the base of dorsal median setae. Pronotum with 5 pairs of long, stout and capitate setae arising from tubercles; prosternal basantra absent. Metanotum with a pair of long and capitate median setae. Metathoracic sternopleural sutures absent. Pelta triangular and wide, with one pair of stout setae on posterior angles; abdominal tergites reticulated, II and III with 2 pairs of well-developed lateral setae each, II–VII with 1 pair of wing-retaining setae. Tube almost cylinder-shaped, about 5.6x as long as basal width, with several lateral setae. All legs similar in appearance, with many setae, some of which are stout and capitate; fore tarsi without a tooth. Fore wings without duplicated cilia.

Male macropterous and similar to female, fore legs without a tarsal tooth. Pore plates absent.

Intraspecific variation

Unknown.

Genus and similar species information

Zeugmatothrips is a genus with almost 20 species, distributed across the tropical forests in the Americas. It has a series of unusual characteristics, which helps differentiate this genus from other Idolothripinae: antennae with stout and capitate dorsal setae on the basal segments, antennomere III shorter than IV; head longer than wide, with the median dorsal setae stout and capitate, frequently as long as the postocular setae; tarsal tooth absent both in males and females; fore wings without duplicated cilia; tube long with several lateral setae. Zeugmatothrips priesneri has uniquely colored legs, with the fore and hind femora almost white and mid femora bicolored, contrasting to the almost fully dark brown mid and hind tibiae. A key to Zeugmatothrips species is available in Mound & Palmer (1986).

Distribution around the world

Described from Panama, and recorded from Brazil and Trinidad and Tobago.

Distribution in Brazil

Pará.

Life history

Found mainly in tropical forests, where it lives in large dead leaves, feeding on fungal spores.

Economic importance

Not recorded.

References suggested
Hood JD (1935) Ten new Thysanoptera from Panama. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 48: 83-106. 

Mound LA & Palmer JM (1983) The generic and tribal classification of spore-feeding Thysanoptera (Phlaeothripidae: Idolothripinae). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). Entomology 46: 1–174. 

Mound LA & Palmer JM (1986) Patterns of speciation in Neotropical spore-feeding thrips of the genus Zeugmatothrips. Amazoniana 9: 581–594.