Body yellow with light brown markings, pronotum with four pairs of small light brown areas laterally; abdominal tergites II–VII with antecostal ridge light brown and small paired brown markings anterolaterally, VIII–X yellow; antennal segment I pale, II light brown, III pale at base, IV mainly light brown; fore wing uniformly grey; hind tibiae and femora yellow. Head with occipital apodeme close to, but not confluent with, posterior margin of eyes; ocellar area not sculptured; mouth cone not long; antennal segments III & IV with apex not constricted into neck. Pronotum closely transversely striate; mesonotum with median pair of setae slightly anterior to lateral pair; metanotum striate; metasternal plate with shallow emargination. Fore wing second vein with two setae distally. Abdominal tergites III–VII with posteromarginal comb absent medially, VIII with complete comb; tergite IX with 2 pairs of mid-dorsal setae; sternites apparently 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. This group is closely related to Hydatothrips, but anterior margin of metasternum is transverse or with weak emagination. Neohydatothrips luculentus is similar to N. burungae in having pronotal striae unusually close together, as in species of Scirtothrips. A key to the Neotropical species of Neohydatothrips is provided by Lima & Mound (2016).
