Distinguishing features

Female fully winged. Body dark brown when mature, teneral individuals with abdomen pale. Antennae 8-segmented, III–IV with stout simple sense cone; II prolonged on external margin with small terminal sensorium. Head small and projecting in front of eyes, vertex usually with 3 pairs of setae. Pronotum trapezoidal with 2 pairs of posteroangular setae slightly longer than posteromarginals. Fore coxae enlarged and transverse; fore femora swollen; fore tibia extending laterally along external margin of fore tarsus. Meso and metafurca weakly developed, mesofurcal pits widely separated. Fore wing slender and acute at apex; first vein with 3 setae on distal half, second vein with 3–4 widely spaced setae. Tergites with many lines of sculpture medially, II–IV with transverse row of small tubercles along antecostal ridge, I–VIII with complete craspedum. Ovipositor weakly developed, without strong teeth. Sternites II–IV with sculpture forming pattern of tubercles medially; VII with all 3 pairs of setae arising at margin.
Male wingless. Body yellow; sternites III–VII with large circular pore plate medially.

Related species

Arorathrips is one of six genera created by Bhatti (1990) for some of the species treated by zur Strassen (1960) in the genus Chirothrips. Rather more than 12 species, all from the New World (Nakahara & Foottit, 2012) are considered to belong in the genus Arorathrips, but not all of these have the fore tibia prolonged around the fore tarsus as in A. mexicanus. However, all of them have the pterothoracic furcae very weakly developed without prominent lateral flanges, and the mesothoracic furcal pits wide apart.

Biological data

Feeding and pupating within individual florets of various Poaceae, with no obvious specificity recorded.

Distribution data

Not recorded from New Zealand, but considered a high risk potential invader. Originally Neotropical, but now wordwide in tropical and sub-tropical areas, including Northern Australia.

Family name

THRIPIDAE, THRIPINAE

Species name

Arorathrips mexicanus (Crawford DL)

Original name and synonyms

Chirothrips mexicanus Crawford DL, 1909: 114
Chirothrips floridensis Watson, 1920: 22
Chirothrips catchingsi Watson, 1924: 76
Chirothrips saltensis Tapia, 1952: 109

References

Bhatti JS (1990) On some genera related to Chirothrips (Insecta: Terebrantia: Thripidae). Zoology (Journal of Pure and Applied Zoology) 2: 194–200.

Nakahara S & Foottit RG (2012) Review of Chirothrips and related genera (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) of the Americas, with descriptions of one new genus and four new species. Zootaxa 3251: 1–29.

Tree DC (2010) Mexican grass thrips (Arorathrips mexicanus ) Updated on 10/21/2011 12:31:03 PM Available online: PaDIL - http://www.padil.gov.au.

zur Strassen R (1960) Key to and catalogue of the known species of Chirothrips Haliday, 1836 (Thysanoptera: Thripidae). Journal of the Entomological Society of southern Africa 23: 144–176.