Odontothrips biuncusOdontothrips biuncusBoth sexes fully winged. Body and legs dark brown, mid and hind tarsi paler, fore tarsi and parts of fore tibiae yellow; antennal segment III yellow, IV brownish yellow; fore wings brown with sub-basal white band. Antennae 8-segmented; segments III–IV constricted to apex, each with forked sense cone; segment VI sense cone with enlarged oval base; dorsal apex of segment I with pair of setae. Head wider than long; three pairs of ocellar setae present, pair III as long as distance between compound eyes, arising on or just outside anterior margins of ocellar triangle; maxillary palps 3-segmented. Pronotum with little sculpture, about 10 discal setae and two pairs of long posteroangular setae. Fore tarsus distal segment with 1 or 2 small tubercles; fore tibia apex with two prominent re-curved claws ventrally and laterally. Mesonotum with paired anterior campaniform sensilla, median setae close to posterior margin. Metanotum reticulate; median setae long, arising at anterior margin; campaniform sensilla absent (present?). Fore wing first vein with setal row almost complete but with small sub-apical gap; setal row complete on second vein. Abdominal tergites with no ctenidia, median setal pair small and wide apart, II–VIII with sculpture lines extending across median area; tergite VIII with posteromarginal comb of slender microtrichia laterally but none on median third, with group of microtrichia anterolateral to spiracle; IX with 2 pairs of campaniform sensilla, X with median split. Sternites without discal setae, S1 on VII arising in front of margin.
Male smaller than female; tergite IX with pair of short, broad setae posterolaterally; sternites without pore plates; extruded genitalia bearing two stout spines each arising from an elongate trachea-like structure.
The genus Odontothrips currently includes 33 species. All but two of these are from the Holarctic region, including Iran and China, but one species is described from Rajasthan, India, and another from Guinea. From Europe, 19 species of Odontothrips are recorded (zur Strassen, 2003), with eight from Britain. Almost all Odontothrips species breed only in the flowers of Fabaceae (Pitkin, 1972). Although generally similar to loti in colour and structure, and also the form of the male genitalia, biuncus has antennal segment IV rather paler, and the fore tibiae each bear two very stout recurved claws.
Feeding and breeding in flowers but pupating at ground level; possibly monophagous on Vicia cracca [Fabaceae].
Widespread in Britain from Kent to Inverness (Mound et al., 1976), and throughout northern and Central Europe. Also recorded from China, Japan and Canada.
THRIPIDAE - THRIPINAE
Odontothrips biuncus John
Odontothrips biuncus John, 1921: 7
Taeniothrips konumensis Ishida, 1931: 37
Mound LA, Morison GD, Pitkin BR & Palmer JM (1976) Thysanoptera. Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects 1 (11): 1–79.
Pitkin BR (1972) A revision of the flower-living genus Odontothrips Amyot & Serville. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) (Entomology) 26: 371–402.
zur Strassen R (2003) Die terebranten Thysanopteren Europas und des Mittelmeer-Gebietes. Die Tierwelt Deutschlands 74: 1–271.
