Distinguishing features

Both sexes fully winged. Body dark brown; tarsi and base of antennal segment III paler; wings with extreme bases brown. Similar to C. manukae in structure, cheek setae less prominent, and postoccipital projections weakly developed; anterior margin of mesoeusternum sharply angulate, and mesopresternal plates sharply triangular, the median distance between their bases much less than one-third of mesoeusternal margin; metanotum with strong reticulation between median setae; fore wing major sub-basal setae S3 longer than S1 and S2; tergite IX posteromarginal setae S1 just over half as long as tube.
Male similar to female, sternite VIII pore plate almost reaching to anterior and posterior margins; tergite IX posteromarginal setae S2 exceptionally short and fine.

Related species

There are six species in the genus Cartomothrips, of which three are known only from Australia, one known only from New Zealand, and two that are known from both countries. C. neboissi has the anterior margin of the mesoeusternum sharply angulate, and unlike both manukae and tofti setal pair S2 on tergite IX of males is exceptionally short, scarcely 25 microns long.

Biological data

Presumably feeding on fungal hyphae or their break-down products, the adults and larvae of C. neboissi live particularly in the dead fruit capsules of Kunzea ericoides.

Distribution data

Common in southeastern Australia, and recently discovered on Hawaii (Mound et al., 2017), this species has been collected infrequently in New Zealand (ND, AK, CL, GB).

Family name

PHLAEOTHRIPIDAE, PHLAEOTHRIPINAE

Species name

Cartomothrips neboissi Mound & Walker

Original name and synonyms

Cartomothrips neboissi Mound & Walker, 1982: 311

References

Mound LA, Matsunaga J, Bushe B, Hoddle MS & Wells A (2017) Adventive Thysanoptera Species on the Hawaiian Islands: New Records and Putative Host Associations. Proceedings of the Hawaiian entomological Society 49: 17–28.

Mound LA & Walker AK (2012) The Australia-New Zealand connection re-visited, with two new species of Cartomothrips (Thysanoptera, Phalaeothripidae). Zootaxa 3487: 58–64.