Distinguishing features

Female macroptera. Body brown but abdomen sometimes much paler, tarsi and antennal segment II yellow; fore wings light brown. Antennae 8-segmented, II prolonged externally with apical sensorium; III–IV with sense cone simple. Head prolonged in front of eyes, vertex with 5–8 pairs of setae. Pronotum strongly trapezoidal, 2 pairs of posteroangular setae slightly longer than posteromarginals. Fore coxae enlarged and transverse; fore femora swollen; fore tibia not extending laterally along external margin of fore tarsus. Meso and metafurca weakly developed; meta pre-episternum reduced to small triangle; meso and metathoracic sterna with many setae. Fore wing slender and acute at apex, first vein with 3 setae on distal half, second vein with 3–4 widely spaced setae. Tergites with weak lines of sculpture medially, II–V without tubercles on antecostal ridge, I–VIII with small craspedum. Ovipositor weakly developed, without strong teeth. Sternites II- IV with transverse lines of sculpture.
Male not known in Australia.

Related species

Arorathrips is one of six genera created by Bhatti (1990) for some of the species treated by zur Strassen (1960) in the genus Chirothrips. There are now 15 species in Arorathrips, all from the New World (Nakahara & Foottit, 2012), but not all of these have the fore tibia prolonged around the fore tarsus as in A. mexicanus. However, all of them have the pterothoracic furcae very weakly developed without prominent lateral flanges, and the mesothoracic furcal pits wide apart.

Biological data

Breeding and pupating within individual florets of various Poaceae species.

Distribution data

Recorded from USA, Mexico, Hawaii, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, and Queensland, Australia.

Family name

THRIPIDAE - THRIPINAE

Species name

Arorathrips spiniceps (Hood)

Original name and synonyms

Chirothrips spiniceps Hood, 1915: 12
Chirothrips sacchari Moulton, 1936: 181.

References

Bhatti JS (1990) On some genera related to Chirothrips (Insecta: Terebrantia: Thripidae). Zoology (Journal of Pure and Applied Zoology) 2: 193–200.

Mound LA & Palmer JM (1972) Grass-flower infesting thrips of the genus Chirothrips Haliday in Australia. Journal of the Australian entomological Society 11: 332–339.

Nakahara S & Foottit RG (2012) Review of Chirothrips and related genera (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) of the Americas, with descriptions of one new genus and four new species. Zootaxa 3251: 1–29.

zur Strassen R (1960) Key to and catalogue of the known species of Chirothrips Haliday, 1836 (Thysanoptera: Thripidae). Journal of the entomological Society of southern Africa 23: 144–176.