Body mainly yellow with pronotal blotch, antecostal ridges and adjacent anterolateral areas brown, also anterior third of mesonotum and lateral thirds of metanotum shaded brown; antennal segments I–II yellow, III shaded brown on median third, IV brown with basal fourth yellow and apex light brown, V brown with base light brown, VI–VIII brown; fore wing uniformly pale brownish grey. Head with occipital apodeme close to, but not confluent with, posterior margin of compound eyes; ocellar setae pair III on external margins of ocellar triangle, which has parallel transverse sculpture lines. Pronotum striate with distinctive pronotal blotch; mesonotum striate, median setal pair anterior to the lateral; metanotum anterior half transversely striate, posterior half longitudinally striate, with two pairs of setae on anterior margin; metasternal plate with very shallow anterior emargination. Fore wing second vein with two setae. 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 VI–VII with microtrichia medially.
Male not known.
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 ikelus is very similar to N. flavens, but lacks sculpture markings between the pronotal striae. A key to the Neotropical species of Neohydatothrips is provided by Lima & Mound (2016).
