Distinguishing features

Female macroptera. Body largely medium brown; antennal segment I pale, II dark brown, III–IX evenly light brown; wings slightly shaded; tergite IX setae dark brown. Head wider than long, with transverse sculpture lines behind eyes; eyes with 6 pigmented facets; ocellar setae III just outside ocellar triangle, anterolateral to hind ocelli. Antennae 9-segmented; II with few microtrichia; III–IV with small forked sense cone; VI constricted at base but not pedicellate, suture between VI–VII oblique, weak, and sometimes incomplete. Pronotum with weak lines of sculpture, fewer than 10 pairs of discal setae; posteromarginal setae S1 slightly larger than remaining marginal setae. Metascutum irregularly reticulate; median setae fine and well back from anterior margin; campaniform sensilla absent. Prosternal ferna undivided medially. Fore wing first vein with about 10 setae irregularly spaced on basal half, two setae on distal half; second vein with 7–10 setae; clavus with 4–7 veinal setae and one basal seta. Abdominal tergites I–VIII with transverse sculpture medially, with no ciliate microtrichia on lateral sculpture lines; tergites IV–VIII with S1 and S2 setae relatively close to posterior margin; VIII with long regular marginal comb, spiracular area slightly enlarged; IX with many transverse sculpture lines. Sternite VII median setae anterior to margin.
Female microptera. Wing shorter than width of pterothorax.
Male microptera. Pronotal sculpture weaker than in female; abdominal tergite VIII with posteromarginal comb; tergite IX with median two pairs of setae not stout; sternite III with an oblong glandular area close to antecostal line.

Related species

Although dark in colour, A. eremophilae is similar in the form of the antennae to species such as A. barrowi and A. barringtoni. Unlike such species, the lateral tergal sculpture lines do not bear any microtrichia, and the metascutal sculpture lines bear weak flanges. 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.

Biological data

Feeding on the leaves of Eremophila sp. [Myoporaceae].

Distribution data

Known only from Western Australia.

Family name

THRIPIDAE - THRIPINAE

Species name

Anaphothrips eremophilae Mound & Masumoto

Original name and synonyms

Anaphothrips eremophilae Mound & Masumoto, 2009: 34.

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