Original reference: Ramakrishna TV & Margabandhu V (1931) Notes on Indian Thysanoptera with brief descriptions of new species. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 34: 1025–1040.
Body colour yellow, including legs; antennal segments I–III yellow, IV–V yellow basally; VI–VII brown; fore wings pale to slightly shaded. Head with only two pairs of ocellar setae, pair II longer than pair III. Antennae 7-segmented, III & IV with forked sense cones. Pronotum rectangular and not distinctively sculptured; two pairs of long posteroangular setae; few moderately long setae arising close to anterior margin. Meso & metathoracic endofurca without spinula. Metanotum longitudinally striate; paired campaniform sensilla absent; two pairs of setae, median pair long and arising scarcely behind anterior margin. Tarsi 2-segmented. Fore wing with first vein with few sparse setae but second vein essentially complete. Abdominal tergites II–VIII each with a pair of small and wide apart discal median setae; V–VIII with few minute microtrichia and lateral ctenidia, on VIII posteromesad to spiracle; VIII without posteromarginal comb of microtrichia or craspedum. Sternites with no discal setae or microtrichia; setae S1 on sternite VII arising just in front of margin; three pairs of long posteromarginal setae. Both sexes fully winged.
Male with abdominal sternites III–V with transverse pore plates.
Intraspecific variation
The number of discal setae on the pronotum is variable.
Genus and similar species information
This Old World genus comprises more than 30 species, and is related to Thrips genus. Stenchaetothrips species are found predominantly in Asia and all have ocellar setal pair II longer than setal pair III on head. Presumably, in common with S. biformis and S. minutus, this species has been introduced to that area from tropical Asia, possibly on sugar cane planting material. Stenchaetothrips indicus is unique among the described species in the genus in lacking a comb of slender microtrichia on the posterior margin of tergite VIII in females. A key to the Stenchaetothrips species recorded from the Neotropics is provided by Mound & Marullo (1996).
World distribution
Described from India, it is widespread in Asia; also recorded from Australia, Brazil and Central America.
