Body bicoloured, with head brown, pronotum yellow with posteroangular setae dark brown, mesonotum and metanotum brown, abdominal tergites II–IV light brown, V–VI yellow, VII dark brown, VIII–X yellow; fore wing with 3 dark and 3 pale bands, apex pale, clavus dark with stout dark setae; antennal segments I–II pale, III–IV yellow with light brown apices; hind tibiae yellow, femora shaded with light brown. Head with occipital apodeme distant from eyes, ocellar area closely striate, postocular setae in longitudinal row close to eye; antennal segments III & IV slender with an apical neck. Pronotum transversely striate with no internal markings, pronotal blotch not defined except for anterior apodeme; mesonotum and metanotum closely striate; metasternal plate with shallow emargination. Fore wing second vein with no setae. Abdominal tergites VII–VIII with complete comb of long microtrichia on posterior margin, no comb medially on remaining tergites; tergite IX with 2 pairs of mid-dorsal setae. Both sexes fully winged.
Male similar to female but smaller with tergite VIII brown.
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. This group is closely related to Hydatothrips, but anterior margin of metasternum is transverse or with weak emagination. Neohydatothrips hemileucus is unusual in having the occipital apodeme distant from the posterior margin of the eyes, and in the longitudinal orientation of the row of postocular setae. A key to the Neotropical species of Neohydatothrips is provided by Lima & Mound (2016).
