Adraneothrips ephippium
Recognition data
Distinguishing features
Female fully winged. Body brightly tri-colored, brown, yellow and with red internal pigment. Head and thorax brown, also abdominal segments III � V and VIII � X; abdominal segment II yellow, VI � VII brownish yellow; tarsi yellow, midtibiae largely brown, hind tibiae washed with brown medially; antennal segments III � VI bicolored yellow and dark brown; forewing with brown area sub-basally. Head slightly longer than wide, wider across cheeks than across eyes, projecting slightly in front of eyes; postocular setae capitate, arising posterior to inner margin of eyes; eyes prolonged slightly to posterior on ventral surface; maxillary stylets retracted to postocular setae, about one fifth of head width apart. Antennae 8-segmented; segment III with two sensoria, IV with four sensoria. Pronotum with five pairs of major setae capitate. Fore tarsus without tooth. Forewing parallel sided, with four duplicated cilia. Pelta shaped like tall hat, with very slender brim and pair of campaniform sensilla. Tergites II � VII with two pairs of sigmoid wing-retaining setae; tergite IX setae S1 broadly blunt, shorter than tube.
Related and similar species
The descriptive notes given here for A. ephippium are based on two specimens from San Diego County in the collection at UC Riverside. These specimens are very similar to A. alajuela according to the key to Central and South American species in Mound & Marullo (1996). The genus Adraneothrips currently includes 58 species, all but three of which are from the Americas, mainly from tropical areas. Four species are listed from California. Of these, Stannard (1956) described A. faustus on one short-winged male, A. ephippium on one fully winged female, and A. vacuus on six wingless individuals; A. saturatus Cott was described on about 20 wingless individuals. Studies on this genus must therefore await more extensive field sampling to gain some understanding of variation within and between species.
Taxonomic data
Current valid name
Adraneothrips ephippium Stannard
Original name and synonyms
Adraneothrips ephippium Stannard, 1956: 24
Family placement
Phlaeothripidae, Phlaeothripinae
Biological data
Life history
Breeding in leaf litter
Host plants
Feeding on fungal hyphae in leaf litter
Tospoviruses vectored
None
Crop damage
None
Distribution data
Area of origin
Western USA
Distribution
California