Diagnosis Female macropterous; body color mainly dark brown, darker at apex of head and lighter at tip of tube; all tarsi and leg knees brown; antennomeres I–II and VI–VIII dark brown, III–V yellow, with bases and apexes darkened, each segment darker than the previous; wings pale with margins darker. Antennae 8-segmented, antennomeres III and IV long and club-shaped. Head longer than wide, lateral margins slightly sinuous; dorsal surface with 3 pairs of long and thick setae (an ocellar pair, a postocular pair and a pair in the middle of head) and several shorter setae laterally; maxillary stylets parallel to each other and reaching about half of head length. Pronotum with 2 pairs of well-developed setae (epimeral and posteroangular), anteromarginal, anteroangular and midlateral pairs short; prosternal basantra present. Metanotum with a pair of very long and thick median setae; metathorax lateroventral sclerites with microtrichia similar to denticles, sternopleural sutures absent. Pelta wide; abdominal tergites II–VII with 1 pair of wing-retaining setae. Tube cylinder-shaped, a little over 4x as long as basal width, without lateral setae. All legs similar in appearance, fore femora with long setae, fore tarsi without a tooth.
Male macropterous. Similar to female but with enlarged fore legs and a tarsal tooth. “Stridulatory” structure present on fore legs. Pore plates absent.
Intraspecific variation Unknown.
Genus and similar species information Anactinothrips is a genus with 15 described species, but it is possible some of them are synonymous to others. These thrips are usually dark, medium to large sized, with basantra present, without metathoracic sternopleural sutures, and tube without lateral setae. Males of Anactinothrips and Diceratothrips have a unique adaptation to their fore legs, with a series of ridges on the coxae and a posterior projection on the femora, which seem to work as a stridulatory structure or as a locking mechanism for the fore legs. Despite this unique structure, these genera probably belong to different evolutionary lineages, and Anactinothrips can be distinguished from Diceratothrips for lacking metathoracic sternopleural sutures, having a transverse pelta, and long setae on metanotum and laterals of abdominal segments. Anactinothrips fuscus and A. silvicola are very similar, with specimens of the latter usually slightly smaller; but currently there is no clear way to differentiate these two species. A key to Anactinothrips species is available in Mound & Marullo (1996).
Distribution around the world Described from Brazil.
