Distinguishing features

Female macroptera. Body, legs and antennal segments I–III yellow, IV weakly shaded at apex, V yellow in basal half, VI–IX light brown; wings pale; tergite IX setae light brown. Head wider than long, with closely spaced sculpture lines behind eyes; eyes with 6 pigmented facets; ocellar setae III outside ocellar triangle. Antennae 9-segmented; III–IV with sense cone forked, II without microtrichia; VI not pedicellate, suture between VI–VII oblique. Pronotum with closely spaced, faint, transverse lines of sculpture; with no long setae. discal setae small. Metascutal sculpture transverse on anterior half, irregularly reticulate medially; median setae fine and well back from anterior margin; campaniform sensilla absent. Prosternal ferna almost complete medially. Fore wing first vein with about 9 setae basally, 2 setae medially and 2 setae near apex; second vein with 12–15 setae; clavus with 5–6 veinal setae. Abdominal tergites II–VII with no sculpture medially, lateral to setae S2 with about 10 closely spaced lines bearing microtrichia similar to some Scirtothrips species; VIII with long regular marginal comb. Sternite VII median setae close to posterior margin.
Male macroptera. Similar to female; tergite IX with all setae slender; sternite III with pair of circular pore plates at anterolateral angles.
Larvae. White, but tergites IX–X deeply shaded. Most dorsal setae finely acute; tergite IX with 2 pairs of stout capitate setae, X with one pair.

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, others clearly have only 8 segments, but several species have an intermediate condition with segment VI bearing a partial and often oblique transverse suture as in A. augustae. 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. A. augustae females are similar to those of A. barrowi and A. barringtoni, but in these the microtrichia are less well developed. In A. cobari the microtrichia are effectively absent, and the male differs in having a median, weakly transverse, pore plate on the third sternite. The paired circular pore plates on sternite III of A. augustae males are unique in this genus.

Biological data

Feeding and breeding on the leaves of Myoporum sp. [Myoporaceae].

Distribution data

Known only from South Australia.

Family name

THRIPIDAE - THRIPINAE

Species name

.Anaphothrips augustae Mound & Masumoto

Original name and synonyms

Anaphothrips augustae 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