Haplothrips helianthemiHaplothrips helianthemiBoth sexes fully winged. Body, legs and antennae brown to dark brown, fore tarsi and base of antennal segment III yellow; fore wing pale with base dark; major setae light brown. Antennae 8-segmented, segment III with 2 short stout sense cones, IV with 4 similar sense cones; VIII weakly narrowed to base. Head longer than wide; maxillary stylets 50% of head width apart, retracted to postocular setae, maxillary bridge complete; postocular setae pointed, about as long as dorsal length of compound eye. Pronotum with only 2 pairs of major setae, both with apices pointed, anteromarginal and anteroangular setae no larger than discal setae, midlaterals slightly larger; epimeral sutures complete; prosternal basantra present, mesopresternum eroded to paired lateral triangles, weakly connected medially. Fore wing constricted medially, with about 7 duplicated cilia; sub-basal setae arise in a line, with pointed apices. Tergite IX setae S1 pointed, about 0.5 as long as tube.
Male with no pore plate on sternite VIII; fore tarsal tooth present; tergite IX setae S2 short and stout; aedeagus apex similar to that of leucanthemi.
The genus Haplothrips is one of the three most species-rich genera of Thysanoptera, and currently includes about 245 species worldwide. Most of these species come from the Holarctic or the Old World tropics, with 80 listed from Europe and 14 from Britain. No Haplothrips species is known to be endemic to the Neotropics, although a few are native to southern South America (Mound & Zapater, 2003). Haplothrips species are largely phytophagous, particularly associated with the flowers of Asteraceae and Poaceae, but some are predatory (Mound & Minaei, 2007). Haplothrips helianthemi is unusual within this genus in having only two pairs of long major setae on the pronotum, although amongst species from Europe it shares this character state with jasionis.
Breeding in the flowers of Helianthemum chamaecystus [Cistaceae].
In Britain, collected at a number of sites in Northamptonshire, Rutland, and Peterborough, during an ecological investigation of its host in 1979 (Collins, 2010a). Otherwise known only from a small number of central European countries including Germany, Hungary and Slovenia.
PHLAEOTHRIPIDAE - PHLAEOTHRIPINAE
Haplothrips helianthemi Oettingen
Haplothrips helianthemi Oettingen, 1942: 6
Collins DW (2010a) Thysanoptera of Great Britain: a revised and updated checklist. Zootaxa 2412: 21–41.
Mound LA & Minaei K (2007) Australian insects of the Haplothrips lineage (Thysanoptera – Phlaeothripinae). Journal of Natural History 41: 2919–2978.
Mound LA & Zapater MC (2003) South American Haplothrips species (Thysanoptera, Phlaeothripidae), with a new species of biological control interest to Australia against weedy Heliotropium amplexicaule (Boraginaceae). Neotropical Entomology 32: 437–442.
