Distinguishing features

Female macropterous. Body and legs brown, fore tibiae and tarsi paler; antennal segment III yellow, IV yellowish with distal third darker, V–IX increasingly dark; fore wing and clavus uniformly fuscous, veins dark. Head with postocular region shorter than eye length, median pairs of postocular setae stout; distal maxillary palp segment subdivided. Antennae 9-segmented, sensorium on III straight and not extending to mid-point, on IV short but curved around apex, without internal markings. Mesonotum with 2 to 4 pairs of accessory setae medially. Metanotal reticles equiangular, without internal markings. Abdominal tergite I apparently without sculpture medially; trichobothria on X at least twice as wide as base of major setae on X. Sternites with 4 pairs of marginal setae and 2 to 5 pairs of discal setae laterally but none medially.
Male similar to female but smaller. Abdominal tergite I with two longitudinal ridges. Sternites with 4 pairs of marginal setae, VIII–IX with about 8–10 discal setae.

Related species

The genus Desmothrips is known only from Australia, with 18 described species (Pereyra & Mound, 2010). D. stepheni is probably part of the D. crespii complex, although it has one or more pairs of setae on the head and pronotum unusually stout.

Biological data

Nothing is known of the biology of this species.

Distribution data

Known only from one site in the arid zone of north western Queensland

Family name

AEOLOTHRIPIDAE

Species name

Desmothrips stepheni Mound & Marullo

Original name and synonyms

Desmothrips stepheni Mound & Marullo, 1998: 942

References

Mound LA & Marullo R (1998) Biology and identification of Aeolothripidae (Thysanoptera) in Australia. Invertebrate Taxonomy 12: 929–950.

Pereyra V & Mound LA (2010) Phylogenetic relationships within the genus Desmothrips (Thysanoptera, Aeolothripidae), an Australian genus of facultative flower-living predators. Systematic Entomology 35: 306–317.