Distinguishing features

Female macroptera. Body and legs yellow; antennal segments I–II yellow, III–VI yellow with apex increasingly brown, VII–IX brown; fore wing pale; tergites VIII–X major setae light brown. Head wider than long; transverse reticulation behind eyes, ocellar region with little or no sculpture; eyes with 6 pigmented facets; ocellar and postocular setae weakly spatulate; ocellar setae III on anterior margins of ocellar triangle. Antennae 9-segmented, III–IV with apex weakly constricted, sense cone forked; II with no microtrichia; VI narrowed to base but not pedicellate. Pronotum with transverse lines of sculpture, with no long setae, all setae weakly spatulate. Metascutum reticulate; median setae spatulate, well back from anterior margin, lateral setae setaceous, campaniform sensilla present. Fore wing first vein with about 9 setae on basal half and 5 setae distributed along distal half; second vein with about 12 setae; clavus with 6 veinal setae. Abdominal tergites II–VII with no sculpture medially, lateral lines not extending mesad of setae S2 and bearing small dentate microtrichia; VIII with long fine comb of microtrichia.
Male macroptera. Similar to female; thoracic setae less thickened than female; tergite IX with two pairs of short stout setae medially; sternites III–VII with C-shaped pore plate.

Related species

There are 43 species of Anaphothrips known from Australia (Mound & Masumoto, 2009), out of a total of 86 species worldwide (ThripsWiki, 2020). Many of these species have the antennae clearly 9-segmented as in A. atriplicis. However, other species clearly have only 8 segments, and several species have an intermediate condition with segment VI bearing a partial and often oblique transverse suture. The pronotal setae are short, and the fore wing clavus has no discal seta. Some species in this genus can be recognised only in the male sex. It is possible that there is a complex of closely related species similar to A. atriplicis on various Chenopodiaceae across the arid regions of Australia.

Biological data

Feeding and breeding on the leaves of Atriplex paludosa [Chenopodiacea]; also recorded from Rhagodia spp. and Arthrocnemon sp. [Chenopodiaceae].

Distribution data

Recorded from New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia.

Family name

THRIPIDAE - THRIPINAE

Species name

Anaphothrips atriplicis Mound & Masumoto

Original name and synonyms

Anaphothrips aptilotus Mound & Masumoto, 2009: 19.

References

Mound LA & Masumoto M (2009) Australian Thripinae of the Anaphothrips genus-group (Thysanoptera), with three new genera and thirty-three new species. Zootaxa 2042: 1–76. http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2009/f/zt02042p076.pdf