Body brownish yellow, postoccipital region of head light brown, pronotum with three light brown areas laterally; abdominal tergites II–VI with antecostal ridge dark brown and associated light brown areas anterolaterally, VIII–IX with shaded area medially; fore wing uniformly pale brownish grey; antennal segment I pale, II–IV light brown; hind femora and tibiae yellow with light brown markings. Head with occipital apodeme distant from posterior margin of eyes; ocellar area with sculpture lines weak or apparently absent, setal pair III on or near anterior margins of ocellar triangle; antennal segments III & IV with short constricted neck apically. Pronotum striate, pronotal blotch indistinct with irregular transverse row of setae; mesonotum striate with median setae almost in a transverse row; metanotum with irregular longitudinal striae; metasternal plate with anterior margin almost straight. Fore wing second vein with 2 setae distally. Abdominal tergites II–VI with comb of microtrichia incomplete medially, VII–VIII with comb of long microtrichia; tergite IX with 2 pairs of mid-dorsal setae; sternites without discal microtrichia medially.
Male similar to female, sternites without pore plates.
Intraspecific variation
The brown areas on pronotum may be fused medially in some specimens.
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 plaumanni is one of the few Neohydatothrips species with the median pair of setae on the mesonotum almost in line transversely with the lateral pair. A key to the Neotropical species of Neohydatothrips is provided by Lima & Mound (2016).
