Scirtothrips longipennisScirtothrips longipennisFemale fully winged. Body yellow, anterior margin of head light brown; antecostal ridges dark on tergites III–VIII and on sternites V–VII; fore wings strongly shaded in basal half but paler toward apex; antennal segment I pale, III–VIII dark. Antennae 8-segmented, III and IV each with forked sense cone. Head with vertex bearing transversely anastomosing striae, ocellar region transversely striate; ocellar setae pair III further apart than their length, rising near margins of ocellar triangle; two pairs of post-ocular setae longer than ocellar setae III. Pronotum with transverse striae wavy and widely separated; posteromarginal setae S2 slightly longer than width of antennal segment II. Metanotum weakly longitudinally reticulate, median setae close to margin. Fore wing scale with 3 marginal setae; first vein setae 3+2+1+1+1; second vein with 2 setae; posteromarginal fringe cilia wavy except near apex. Tergite I without discal setae, III–V median setae longer than distance between bases; tergal microtrichial fields with 3 discal setae; VIII with no discal microtrichia medially, posteromarginal comb complete; tergite IX with discal microtrichia on posterior half. Sternites with microtrichial fields extending almost to setae S2.
Male not known.
The genus Scirtothrips comprises over 100 described species worldwide, mostly in warmer countries. These species resemble species of Neohydatothrips in having the lateral thirds of the abdominal tergites covered in closely spaced rows of fine microtrichia, but the most closely similar genus is Drepanothrips. As in inermis, the sternites of longipennis lack microtrichia medially, but the fore wing cilia are wavy not straight.
Feeding and breeding on leaves of its host plants, and recorded from many plants in greenhouses, including Anthurium, Begonia and Philodendron (Morison, 1957).
Known from Britain from just four locations, all under glass and not since 1947, predominantly on Cyclamen flowers but also Begonia (Collins, 2010a). This species is infrequently recorded across Scandinavia and other parts of Europe under similar circumstances, and is likely to be an introduced species. It is also known from North America and Australia (Bailey, 1964; Hoddle & Mound, 2003).
THRIPIDAE - THRIPINAE
Scirtothrips longipennis (Bagnall)
Euthrips longipennis Bagnall, 1909: 173
Euthrips parvus Moulton, 1911: 15
Bailey SF (1964) A revision of the genus Scirtothrips Shull (Thysanoptera: Thripidae). Hilgardia 35: 329–362.
Collins DW (2010a) Thysanoptera of Great Britain: a revised and updated checklist. Zootaxa 2412: 21–41.
Hoddle MS & Mound LA (2003) The genus Scirtothrips in Australia (Insecta, Thysanoptera, Thripidae). Zootaxa 268: 1–40.
Morison GD (1957) A review of British Glasshouse Thysanoptera. The Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London 109 (16): 467–534.
