Body brown, with tarsi yellow to light brown; antennomere I concolourous with head, II yellow with brown base, III–IV yellow, V–VIII yellow but shaded with brown; fore wings hyaline; major body setae yellow to light brown. Head about 1.2–1.3 times longer than width behind eyes, dorsal surface with transverse lines of sculpture; postocular setae as long as the length of a compound eye, with expanded apexes; maxillary stylets V-shaped and about 1/3 to 1/2 of head width apart; mouth cone rounded. Antenna 8-segmented, III with 2 or 3 sense cones, IV with 3 elongate sense cones. Pronotum with weakly defined sculpture anteriorly and near posterior margin, notopleural sutures incomplete; 5 pairs of major pronotal setae, one pair on epimeral region; anteromarginal and anteroangular setae reduced, sometimes absent; remaining pronotal setae well-developed and usually with capitate apexes. Mesonotum sculpture formed by irregular reticles medially, faint internal markings inside some reticles. Metanotum with 1–2 anterior discal setae and one median major pair; longitudinal lines of sculpture forming a striate pattern, few internal markings present anteriorly. Fore tarsal hamus small. Fore wings with about 11–14 duplicated cilia. Pelta bell-shaped, with round anterior margin and elongated lateral wings; one pair of campaniform sensilla present, and a pair of short setae located between the sensilla; sculpture formed by equiangular to elongate reticles, striate posteriorly, without internal markings. Abdominal tergites with reticulate sculpture medially and transverse lines laterally, II–VII with three pairs of wing-retaining setae. Both sexes macropterous.
Females bear an S-shaped spermatheca. Males are slightly smaller, without pore plates on sternite VIII.
Intraspecific variation
Not recorded.
Genus and similar species information
Holopothrips is a genus with about 60 known species, distributed almost exclusively in the Neotropics. Several species in this genus are associated to plant galls, as inducers or invaders, in plants of many families. Most Holopothrips species bear three pairs of wing-retaining setae on tergites II–VII, males have complex pore plates and frequently in other sternites besides VIII, and the female spermatheca is visible. About 40 species in this genus have been described or recorded from Brazil. Holopothrips kaminskii has some similarities with H. affinis and H. omercooperi, but is easily differentiated from them by the “hat-shaped” pelta and for males lacking pore plates.
This species induces leaf galls in Vochysia cf. obovata (Vochysiaceae).
Economic importance
Not recorded.
References suggested
Lindner MF; Ferrari A; Mound LA & Cavalleri A (2018) Holopothrips diversity—a Neotropical genus of gall-inducing insects (Thysanoptera, Phlaeothripidae). Zootaxa 4494(1): 001–099.
Published in: 22/06/2020 Posted by: Mariana Lindner
