Body mainly yellow, with lateral margins of tergites brown; antennal segments V-VII brown. Antennae 7-segmented, segment III shorter than IV, both with forked sense cones. Head a little longer than wide, clearly projecting in front of eyes; ocellar setae pair I absent, pair III on anterior margins of ocellar triangle; postocular setae in transverse row. Pronotum transverse, with two pairs of posteroangular setae; metanotal median setae arising at anterior margin. Abdominal tergites without ctenidia, tergite X with a median longitudinal split. Sternites without discal setae.
Male not known.
Intraspecific variation
Not recorded.
Genus and similar species information
There are 17 species listed in Plesiothrips, mostly light brown to yellowish brown with grey fore wings. All of them live on grasses, and the genus represents a radiation that is unique to the American continent. They all have the ovipositor weak with serrations almost absent, which suggests that they possibly deposit their eggs within grass flowers, rather than into plant tissues. Possibly related to the genus Thrips due to having a similar position of the rudimentary ctenidia on tergites VI & VII, and absence of ocellar setae pair I. Known only from the original single female, the identity of P. maculosus remains in doubt, and it possibly represents a teneral specimen of some other species. A key to Plesiothrips species is given by Mound et al. (2016).
Hood JD (1954) Brasilian Thysanoptera V. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 67: 195–214.
Mound L, Lima E, O’Donnell C, Cavalleri A (2016) New World grass thrips of the genus Plesiothrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae). Austral Entomology 55: 340–346.
Published in: 30/12/2016 Posted by: Mariana Lindner
