Diceratothrips cornutus Hood, 1952: 156.

Original reference: Hood JD (1952) Brasilian Thysanoptera III. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 65: 141–174.

Family

Phlaeothripidae, Idolothripinae

Nomenclatural information 

https://thrips.info/wiki/Diceratothrips_cornutus 

Diagnosis

Female macropterous; body color mainly dark brown, with legs knees and all tarsi paler; antennae dark brown, segment II slightly paler, extreme base of III yellow; wings hyaline with veins shaded with brown. Antennae 8-segmented, antennomere III with 2 and IV with 4 sense cones. Head longer than wide, preocellar setae extending almost to apex of antennomere II, with a tubercle at base, postocular setae thick and longer than eyes; lateral margins parallel, continuous with eyes and with two pairs of short and stout setae; maxillary stylets parallel to each other, about 1/3 of head width apart, extending for more than half of head length. Pronotum with 4 pairs of well-developed setae (except midlateral, which is very reduced), only epimeral pair is reasonably elongate. Metanotum reticulated, with a pair of thick median setae. Metathoracic sternopleural sutures present. Pelta triangular and wide, with equiangular reticulation medially; abdomen weakly sculptured, tergites II–VII with 1 pair of wing-retaining setae. Tube cone-shaped, about 2.3x as long as basal width, without lateral setae. Fore legs slightly thicker than the others; fore femora with several thick setae, inner margin with 4 to 5 short and stout setae in a row; fore tarsi with a slight projection on inner margin. Fore wings with many duplicated cilia.

Male macropterous. Similar to female except for having enlarged fore femora, with thick setae in the inner margin, and a posterior projection that seems to interact with a series of ridges in the fore coxae. Fore tibiae bears tubercles with setae in the inner margin. Pore plates absent.

Intraspecific variation

Unknown.

Genus and similar species information

Diceratothrips is a genus with almost 20 species, occurring in the Neotropical region and south of the United States. It has similarities with species of Diplacothrips, but can be distinguished from them by the presence of metathoracic sternopleural sutures. 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 Diceratothrips can be distinguished from Anactinothrips for having metathoracic sternopleural sutures, a triangular pelta, and short setae on metanotum and laterals of abdominal segments. Diceratothrips cornutus is similar in various aspects to D. bicornis, but it is distinguished from it by the presence of tubercles at the base of preocellar setae.

Distribution around the world

Described from Brazil.

Distribution in Brazil

http://fauna.jbrj.gov.br/fauna/faunadobrasil/62043

Life history

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

Economic importance

Not recorded.

References suggested
Hood JD (1952) Brasilian Thysanoptera III. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 65: 141–174.

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 & Marullo R (1996) The Thrips of Central and South America: An Introduction. Memoirs on Entomology, International 6: 1–488.