Anaphothrips occidentalisAnaphothrips occidentalisFemale fully winged. Body and legs dark brown, tarsi and apices of tibiae yellow; antennal segments I–II and IV–IX dark brown, III yellow; fore wings pale with a dark submedian band; major setae dark. Antennae 9-segmented; segments III–IV with apex slightly constricted; VI with narrow pedicel; IX longer than VIII. Head without long setae, as long as wide, ocellar setae III outside ocellar triangle, just anterior to hind ocelli; maxillary palps 3-segmented. Pronotum without long setae, weakly trapezoidal, weakly sculptured. Metanotum reticulate, median setae behind anterior margin, campaniform sensilla present. Fore wing first vein with 8 setae basally, then about 10 setae irregularly; second vein with 11–16 setae; clavus with 5–6 veinal setae and one basal seta. Abdominal tergites weakly sculptured laterally, without microtrichia; VIII posterior margin deeply concave, without comb; X longer than IX.
Male apterous. Bicoloured, head and abdominal segments VI–X dark brown, remainder and legs variably yellowish brown; tergite IX medially with two pairs of short stout setae; sternites III–VII with very large C-shaped pore plate.
Almost 80 species from around the world are currently placed in Anaphothrips, but only two are established in Britain, with a further five species recorded from elsewhere in Europe (zur Strassen, 2003). There are 17 Anaphothrips species known from North America, all living on grasses (Nakahara, 1995), and 43 from Australia, mostly living on plants other than grasses (Mound & Masumoto, 2009). This Australian species differs from the two native British species in lacking a comb on the posterior margin of tergite VIII.
Feeding and breeding on leaves of Anigozanthos species, and possibly other members of Haemodoraceae from Australia.
Not a British species, but native to Western Australia, this has been taken once only in Britain. A single adult female was found under glass at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, on Anigozanthos rufus recently imported from Australia (Collins, 2010a).
THRIPIDAE - THRIPINAE
Anaphothrips occidentalis Pitkin
Anaphothrips occidentalis Pitkin, 1978: 364
Collins DW (2010a) Thysanoptera of Great Britain: a revised and updated checklist. Zootaxa 2412: 21–41.
Mound LA & Masumoto M. (2009) Australian Thripinae of the Anaphothrips genus-group (Thysanoptera), with three new genera and thirty-three new species. Zootaxa 2042: 1–76.
Nakahara S (1995) Review of the Nearctic species of Anaphothrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae). Insecta Mundi 9 (3-4): 221–241.
zur Strassen R (2003) Die terebranten Thysanopteren Europas und des Mittelmeer-Gebietes. Die Tierwelt Deutschlands 74: 1–271.
