Body brown, abdomen darker; legs yellow; antennal segment III paler; fore wing shaded. Head with three pairs of ocellar setae, pair III long and arising near anterior margin of ocellar triangle. Antennae 8-segmented, III & IV with forked sense cones; III with pedicel margins produced to sharp-edged disc, but this is shorter than base of antennal segment II. Pronotum not sculptured and with two pairs of very long posteroangular setae; anteroangular and anteromarginal setae well-developed, sometimes about 0.5 longer as pronotum length. Mesothoracic spinula long, metathoracic spinula absent. Metanotum with transverse lines of sculpture anteriorly, weakly 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. Female fully winged.
Male paler than female and with broad transverse pore plates on sternites III–VII.
Intraspecific variation
Pronotal setae variable in length.
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 caseariae can be distinguished from the other brown Frankliniella species by the short disc on antennal segment III. A key to Frankliniella species recorded from Brazil is provided by Cavalleri & Mound (2012).
Breeding on flowers. Adults were collected on Casearia sylvestris (Flacourtiaceae) and Lippia (Verbenaceae).
Economic importance
Not recorded.
References suggested
Cavalleri A & Mound LA (2012) Toward the identification of Frankliniella species in Brazil (Thysanoptera, Thripidae). Zootaxa 3270: 1–30.
Lima EFB, Miyasato EA (2017) The Frankliniella fauna of Brazil: additions and updated key to species (Thysanoptera: Thripidae). Zootaxa 4323 (3): 391–402.
Published in: 28/12/2016 Posted by: Mariana Lindner
