Belothrips acuminatusBelothrips acuminatusBoth sexes fully winged. Body, legs and antennae brown, antennal segment III paler, tarsi yellowish; fore wing light brown. Antennae 8-segmented, segments VII and VIII long and parallel-sided; segments III–IV each with forked sense cone. Head and pronotum without long setae. Head with ocellar setae III arising close together within ocellar triangle; maxillary palps 3-segmented. Metanotum reticulate, median setae well behind anterior margin, campaniform sensilla present on anterior half of sclerite. Fore wing with veinal setae shorter than half of wing width, first vein with 3 setae on distal half, second vein with 7–8 equally spaced setae. Abdominal tergites with median pair of setae long and close together; tergite VIII with no posteromarginal comb; IX with 2 pairs of campaniform sensilla, X longer than IX.
Male similar to female; sternites III-VII each with large pore plate.
Two species are placed in the genus Belothrips, both from Europe (Bhatti, 1978), but with very little structural difference between them (zur Strassen, 2003). These two species share many character states, and also their host plants, with species of Rubiothrips, but have antennal segments VII and VIII unusually long. The genus is considered a member of the Anaphothrips genus-group (Masumoto & Okajima, 2017a).
Found on leaves and flowers of various species of Galium [Rubiaceae].
In Britain, recorded only from various sites in northern Scotland (Morison, 1969; Mound et al., 1976), but also recorded from Antrim in Northern Ireland. This species is widespread in Northern and Central Europe (zur Strassen, 2003).
THRIPIDAE - THRIPINAE
Belothrips acuminatus (Haliday)
Thrips (Belothrips) acuminatus Haliday, 1836: 450
Belothrips tenuicornis Priesner, 1926: 210
Bhatti JS (1978) Systematics of Anaphothrips Uzel 1895 sensu latu and some related genera (Insecta: Thysanoptera: Thripidae). Senckenbergiana-Biologica 59: 85–114
Masumoto M & Okajima S (2017a) Anaphothrips genus-group: key to world genera, with two new species and three new records from Japan (Thysanoptera: Thripidae). Zootaxa 4272 (2): 201–220.
Morison GD (1969) Observations and records for some British Thysanoptera. XI Thripidae, Belothrips acuminatus Haliday. The Entomologist 102: 165–172.
Mound LA, Morison GD, Pitkin BR & Palmer JM (1976) Thysanoptera. Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects 1 (11): 1–79.
zur Strassen R (2003) Die terebranten Thysanopteren Europas und des Mittelmeer-Gebietes. Die Tierwelt Deutschlands 74: 1–271.
