Diagnosis Macropterous species; body color mainly dark brown, femora brown with apical third yellow; antennomere I dark brown, II yellow; wings pale. Antennae 8-segmented, antennomere III with 2 and IV with 4 sense cones. Head with postocellar setae short; maxillary stylets V-shaped, far apart from each other. Metathoracic sternopleural sutures present. Pelta broad, with basal wings; abdominal tergites II–VII with 1 pair of wing-retaining setae. Tube cone-shaped, about 2.1x as long as basal width, with a few minute lateral setae. Fore legs with a tarsal tooth. Fore wings with duplicated cilia.
Intraspecific variation
Unknown.
Genus and similar species information
Neosmerinthothrips is a genus with 24 species, occurring in the tropics and Australia. The species have well developed metathoracic sternopleural sutures, and a robust tube with convex margins, comparable to those seen in Acallurothrips and Pygothrips species. Neosmerinthothrips is differentiated from Acallurothrips for having antennomeres VII and VIII clearly distinct from each other and the tube not as strongly swollen, and from Pygothrips for having the maxillary stylets far apart and V-shaped. Neosmerinthothrips variipes is very similar to N. annulipes and N. picticornis, and these three species are differentiated mainly by the coloration of the basal antennomeres: I concolorous with head in N. annulipes and N. variipes, lighter than head in N. picticornis; II brown with yellow apex in N. annulipes, mainly yellow in N. variipes.A key to some species of Neosmerinthothrips, including most of the ones recorded in Brazil, is available in Mound (1974).
