Distinguishing features

Female macroptera. Body and legs mainly yellow, light brown on anterior of mesonotum and anterior margin of head; antennae brown, segment III yellow in basal third; fore wings uniformly pale. Antennae 9-segmented, segment I with short apical process; sensoria on III–IV incomplete dorsally, with weak internal markings; IX slightly longer than VIII. Head with ocellar setae III small, shorter than length of an ocellus, arising between anterior margins of posterior ocelli. Pronotum with weak sculpture lines, all setae minute. Mesonotum covered with microtrichia, setae minute. Metanotum with microtrichia on concentric lines at anterior. Fore wing setae shorter than width of veins. Fore tibial apex with two stout ventro-lateral setae. Abdominal tergites I–VII with weak sculpture lines medially; tergite VIII median setae about 0.5 as long as tergite; dorsal setae on IX–X not elongate. Sternites with numerous small discal setae.
Male smaller than female, tergite I with pair of longitudinal ridges.

Related species

Twelve species are currently described in the genus Cranothrips, 11 from Australia and one from South Africa (Pereyra & Mound, 2009). C. bellisi is the smallest and palest of these species and, unlike typical species of Melanthripidae, bears no long setae on the head and pronotum.

Biological data

Breeding in the flowers of its host, Turkey Bush, Calytrix exstipulata [Myrtaceae], sometimes in large populations, and presumably pupating at soil level (Mound & Marullo, 1998).

Distribution data

Australia (Northern Territory, near Darwin)

Family name

MELANTHRIPIDAE

Species name

Cranothrips bellisi Mound & Marullo

Original name and synonyms

Cranothrips bellisi Mound & Marullo, 1998: 934

References

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

Pereyra V & Mound LA (2009) Phylogenetic relationships within the genus Cranothrips (Thysanoptera, Melanthripidae) with consideration of host associations and disjunct distributions within the family. Systematic Entomology 34: 151–161.