Frankliniella varipes Moulton, 1933: 113.

Original reference: Moulton D (1933) The Thysanoptera of South America II. Revista de Entomologia 3: 96–133.

Family

Thripidae, Thripinae

Nomenclatural information

http://thrips.info/wiki/Frankliniella_varipes

Diagnosis

Body dark brown; all tarsi yellow, fore and mid tibiae largely yellow, shaded with brown medially, hind tibiae dark brown but abruptly yellow basally; antennal segments I–II & VI–VIII dark brown, III yellowish brown as well the extreme base of IV–V; fore wings brown, distinctively paler in basal fourth. Head with three pairs of ocellar setae, pair III long, arising within ocellar triangle. Antennae 8-segmented, III & IV with forked sense cones; III with simple pedicel. Pronotum not sculptured, with two pairs of very long posteroangular setae; posteromarginal setae II unusually long, more than three times longer than pair I; anteroangular and anteromarginal setae well-developed, more than 0.5 longer than pronotum length. Mesothoracic spinula long, metathoracic spinula absent. Metanotum with transverse lines of reticulation anteriorly, weak reticulation posteromedially; campaniform sensilla present; two pairs of setae arising at anterior margin. Tarsi 2-segmented. 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 plate on abdominal sternites III–VII.

Intraspecific variation

Mid tibiae are variable in colour, usually extensively yellow or shaded brown medially.

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 varipes is a dark brown species sometimes confused with F. annulipes, but the latter has hind tibiae almost uniformly brown, scarcely paler at apex. A key to Frankliniella species recorded from Brazil is provided by Cavalleri & Mound (2012).

World distribution

Recorded from Central America and Brazil.

Distribution in Brazil

http://fauna.jbrj.gov.br/fauna/faunadobrasil/84697 

Life history

Breeding in flowers of unrelated plants. This species has been studied breeding on Hancornia speciosa (Apocynaceae) in Brazilian Cerrado (Alves-Silva et al. 2013)

Economic importance

Not recorded.

References suggested

Alves-Silva E, Maruyama PKM, Cavalleri A & Del-Claro K (2013) Flower stage and host plant preference by floral herbivore thrips (Insecta: Thysanoptera) in a Brazilian savanna. Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment 48: 25–31.

Cavalleri A & Mound LA (2012) Toward the identification of Frankliniella species in Brazil (Thysanoptera, Thripidae). Zootaxa 3270: 1–30.

Mound LA & Marullo R (1996) The Thrips of Central and South America: An Introduction. Memoirs on Entomology, International 6: 1–488.