Distinguishing features

Female macroptera. Body brown, legs brown with tibiae paler at apex, tarsi yellow, antennal segment III yellow, IV yellow at base and II at apex, remaining segments brown; fore wings shaded, base sharply pale. Antennae 8-segmented. Head with ocellar setae III short, arising just inside triangle; postocular setae I longer than side of ocellar triangle, setae III and V at least twice as long as II and IV. Pronotum with weak transverse markings, 16–20 discal setae present, each about as long as postocular setae I; postero-angular setae elongate, also median posteromarginal setae. Fore tarsus with large pretarsal claw. Mesonotum with no sculpture near campaniform sensilla. Metanotum closely striate medially, anterior area with transverse striae, median setae at anterior margin, campaniform sensilla present. Fore wing first vein with setal row complete; clavus with terminal and subterminal setae subequal. Tergite II with 4 lateral marginal setae; median tergites with no lines of sculpture extending mesad of setae S2; ctenidia present on tergites V–VIII but weak on V and absent on IV, on VIII terminating anterior to setae S3; tergite VIII with posteromarginal comb complete but irregular medially. Sternites and pleurotergites with no discal setae.
Male macroptera.Body light brown; tergite VIII with no comb; sternites III–VII with small transverse pore plate.

Related species

There are 33 species of Thrips genus known from Australia (Mound & Masumoto, 2005), out of a total of 296 species worldwide (ThripsWiki, 2020). Many of these species have the antennae clearly 7-segmented, whereas others have 8 segments. Some species have two complete rows of setae on the fore wing veins, whereas others have the setal row on the first vein more or less widely interrupted. Moreover, some species have sternal discal setae, whereas other species have only marginal setae on the sternites. Despite this variation, all members of Thrips genus have paired ctenidia on the tergites, and on tergite VIII these are postero-mesad to the spiracles, and they also lack ocellar setae pair I in front of the first ocellus. In contrast, Frankliniella species have ctenidia on tergite VIII antero-lateral to the spiracles, and a pair of setae is always present in front of the first ocellus. T. seticollis is unusual in having a large pretarsal claw, similar to that of T. tomeus, but it is otherwise very similar to T. wellsae from the mountains of south-eastern Australia and Tasmania.

Biological data

Presumably feeding and breeding in flowers, but with no recorded host plants.

Distribution data

Known only from Western Australia.

Family name

THRIPIDAE - THRIPINAE

Species name

Thrips seticollis (Bagnall)

Original name and synonyms

Taeniothrips seticollis Bagnall, 1915: 591.

References

Mound LA & Masumoto M (2005) The genus Thrips (Thysanoptera, Thripidae) in Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand. Zootaxa 1020: 1–64. http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2005f/zt01020p064.pdf