Distinguishing features

Female macropterous; Body light brown to yellow, legs and antennae yellow, fore wing pale with base and veins slightly yellow. Head strongly reticulate, cheeks almost parallel but sharply constricted to basal neck; ocellar hump scarcely overhanging inter-antennal region; without major setae. Antennae slender, 6-segmented, V–VII closely fused, VIII distinct; sensoria on III and IV short and simple. Pronotum with two transverse bands of round to oval reticulation. Mesonotum with complete median longitudinal division. Metanotal median triangle weakly indicated; median reticles elongate with thick flattened walls, medial setae minute. Meso and metathoracic furca transverse. Fore wing base broad, veinal setae scarcely larger than microtrichia; costal cilia longer than wing width. Abdominal tergite II with pair of sub-median transverse depressions filled with microtrichia, laterally these depressions are very weakly S-shaped; tergites III–VII with paired lateral invaginations filled with microtrichia that also extend medially onto sculpture lines; III–VIII with pair of sigmoidal setae (weak on VIII); VII–VIII with one setae medially on antecostal ridge; VIII with posteromarginal craspedum; IX with setae S2 about twice as long as S1, but S3 almost half as long as X; tergite X asymmetric, median split complete, terminal setae minute. Sternites with setae arising almost at margin; III–VII with paired circular, stoutly walled, invaginations at dorso-ventral muscle insertions.

Related species

Bhattithrips is an Australian genus of four species, in each of which the dorso-ventral muscle insertions on the sternites are distinctly invaginated with many microtrichia lining the invagination. There is considerable diversity between species within the genus, with antennal sensoria forked or simple, the fore wing setae minute or well developed, and the terminal antennal segments fused or more or less distinct. The closest relative is Sigmothrips from New Zealand.

Biological data

Possibly breeding on the leaves of a seedling plant.

Distribution data

An Australian endemic, but known only from Darwin (Northern Territory)

Family name

THRIPIDAE, PANCHAETOTHRIPINAE

Species name

Bhattithrips borealis Mound

Original name and synonyms

Bhattithrips borealis Mound, 2009: 31

References

Mound LA (2009) New taxa and new records of Australian Panchaetothripinae (Thysanoptera, Thripidae). Zootaxa 2292: 25–33. http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2009/f/zt02292p033.pdf