Diagnosis Body dark brown with yellow legs; antennomeres I–II and VI–IX brown, III light brown with basal half yellow, IV light brown with basal third yellow, V brown with basal half light brown; fore wings uniformly brown, including setae. Head about 1.5 times wider than long, without long setae; ocellar region with three pairs of minute setae, III at lateral margins of ocellar triangle, ahead of posterior ocelli. Antennae 9-segmented; antennomere III longer than IV, both with a long and continuous sensorial area extending laterally until the middle of the segment. Pronotum moderately sculptured and without long setae. Mesonotum striate; metanotum with concentric lines of sculpture, covered in microtrichia. Fore wings with two complete rows of setae. Abdominal tergites I–VIII with a well developed comb of microtrichia on posterior margin, complete on lateral thirds of I–V, but irregular medially; lateral thirds of tergites with dense lines of microtrichia and multiple discal setae. Sternites II–VI with 5 pairs of posteromarginal setae ahead of posterior margin, VII with 4pairs ahead of posterior margin and 1 pair on discal area; lateral thirds of sternites with thin microtrichia.
Male unknown.
Intraspecific variation Unknown.
Genus and similar species information The Lenkothrips genus comprises eight species of flower feeding thrips, all described from South America. These species resemble Heterothrips species in external morphology, but they differ in having the circumpolar sensorial areas on antennal segments III–IV extending into a continuous lateral loop to the base of their segments. Lenkothrips canastra is the only one among Brazilian species with fully brown wings; and it differs from the other species in the genus with this character state (L. daedali) in having shorter antennal segments and posteromarginal comb of microtrichia on tergite VI incomplete medially. An updated key to species is provided by Lima et al. (2024).
