Distinguishing features

Female macroptera. Body colour brownish yellow with brown markings on tergites I–IV, thorax and posterior margin of head; legs yellow with brown shadings; antennal segment I white, II dark brown, III–IX brown; fore wings weakly shaded along veins; major setae at abdomen apex brown. Head wider than long; transverse reticulation behind eyes, weakly sculptured in ocellar triangle; ocellar setae III inside triangle, no further apart than diameter of first ocellus; eyes with 6 pigmented facets. Antennae 9-segmented; III–IV weakly constricted at apex with forked sense cone; II without microtrichia; VI with short pedicel; suture oblique between VI–VII. Pronotum with irregular sculpture lines; with no long setae, discal setae setaceous. Metascutum reticulate, median setae well posterior to anterior margin, campaniform sensilla absent. Fore wing setae short and stout, first vein with about 6–8 setae basally, 2 medially and 2 distally; second vein with about 10 widely spaced setae; clavus with 4–5 veinal setae but no discal setae. Abdominal tergites II–VII with no sculpture medially, lateral sculpture extending just mesad of setae S2; widely spaced sculpture lines bear a few short microtrichia; tergites IV–VI with distance between median setae scarcely greater than the setal lengths; VIII with long regular posteromarginal comb; spiracular area large.
Male macroptera. Similar to female; tergite VIII with two pairs of small thickened setae medially; sternites without pore plates.

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. A. walchae is similar to A. cecili in many details, but some of the major setae are shorter and stouter (very weakly spatulate), and the male lacks sternal pore plates.

Biological data

Feeding and breeding on leaves and flowers of Ozothamnus diosmifolius, and Cassinia sp. [Asteraceae]; adults have been taken from leaves of Cissus antartica [Vitaceae].

Distribution data

Recorded from New South Wales and Queensland.

Family name

THRIPIDAE - THRIPINAE

Species name

Anaphothrips walchae Mound & Masumoto

Original name and synonyms

Anaphothrips walchae Mound & Masumoto, 2009: 54.

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