Actinothrips pedalis Hood, 1949: 76.

Original reference: Hood JD (1949) Brasilian Thysanoptera II. Revista de Entomologia 21: 1–113.

Family
Phlaeothripidae, Idolothripinae

Nomenclatural information 
https://thrips.info/wiki/Actinothrips_pedalis 

Diagnosis
Female macropterous; body color mainly dark brown, abdominal segment IX and tip of tube paler; all femora brown, apex of fore pair yellowish, fore tibiae yellow with base brownish, mid and hind tibiae dark brown basally and yellow apically, all tarsi yellow; antennomeres I–II and VII–VIII dark brown, III–VI yellow with subapical region gradually more brown; wings pale, brown basally, and with an almost black median line. Antennae 8-segmented, antennomere III with 2 and IV with 4 sense cones; antennomeres III–V extremely long and club-shaped. Head longer than wide, with one pair of long setae dorsally and two pairs laterally, all posterior to the eyes; lateral margins slightly sinuous; maxillary stylets wide apart, extending to slightly less than half of head length. Pronotum with 4 pairs of well-developed setae (anteroangulars, midlaterals, epimerals and posteroangulars), anteroangular and midlateral pairs very close together, anteromarginal pair short but slightly thicker than discal setae; prosternal basantra absent. Metanotum reticulated, with one pair of long and thick setae medially, and three pairs of thin setae on anterior angles. Metathoracic sternopleural sutures absent. Pelta triangular and wide, anterolateral margins with a small indent, sculpture formed by irregular reticulation; abdomen sculptured, reticles with small teeth/tubercles medially, tergites II–VII with 1 pair of wing-retaining setae. Tube cylinder-shaped, about 7x as long as basal width, with numerous lateral setae, especially basally. All legs similar in appearance; fore femora with two long setae with expanded tips on outer margin, and two shorter setae on inner margin; fore tarsi without a tooth. Fore wings with duplicated cilia.

Male macropterous. Similar to females, but with slightly swollen fore femora, with a bulbous base, and fore tarsi with a tooth; abdominal segment VIII more than two times as long as wide, constrict medially, with three pairs of robust posterior setae. Pore plates absent.

Intraspecific variation
Unknown.

Genus and similar species information
Actinothrips is a genus with 13 species, all from the Neotropics. It belongs to a group of Idolothripinae genera with an elongate head, projected in front of eyes and with multiple long setae, basantra weakly developed or absent, metathoracic sternopleural sutures absent, and a very elongate tube, with multiple lateral setae. Males of several Actinothrips species are very morphologically diverse, with minor and major forms; while the females of different taxa tend to be very similar to each other, making the distinction between species difficult. Actinothrips pedalis is very similar to A. bondari, especially the females; males can be distinguished by the tarsal tooth (absent in A. bondari, present in A. pedalis) and shape of fore femora (similar to other femora in A. bondari, bulbous with a wide base in A. pedalis). A key to males of some Actinothrips species is available in Mound (1991).

Distribution around the world
Described from Brazil.

Distribution in Brazil
http://fauna.jbrj.gov.br/fauna/faunadobrasil/31866 

Life history
Lives in dead twigs and leaves, where it feeds on fungal spores.

Economic importance
Not recorded.

References suggested
Hood JD (1949) Brasilian Thysanoptera II. Revista de Entomologia 21: 1–113.

Mound LA & Palmer JM (1983) The generic and tribal classification of spore-feeding Thysanoptera (Phlaeothripidae: Idolothripinae). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). Entomology 46: 1–174. 

Mound LA (1991) Secondary sexual character variation in male Actinothrips species (Insecta: Thysanoptera), and its probable significance in fighting behaviour. Journal of Natural History 25: 933–943.