Print Fact SheetAnaphothrips sudanensis

Distinguishing features

Female macropterous or micropterous; body bicoloured, mainly dark brown but with abdominal segments III–V (or VI) yellow, also antennal segments III–IV; fore wing distal half pale but with dark cross band medially. Antennae 8-segmented, III & IV each with short forked sense cone. Head and pronotum with no long setae. Metanotum reticulate with median pair of setae well behind anterior margin; campaniform sensilla present or absent. Fore wing when developed with veinal setae shorter than half of wing width, first vein with 3 setae on distal half, second vein with about 6 equally spaced setae; clavus with 4–5 veinal setae and one seta near base. Abdominal tergites with no lines of sculpture medially, VIII with complete posteromarginal comb of long slender microtrichia. Sternite VII with median pair of setae arising in front of posterior margin.
Male similar to micropterous female but legs paler and pterothorax usually largely yellow; tergite IX with 2 pairs of stout thorn-like setae medially; sternites III–VIII with large C-shaped pore plate. Bicoloured males occur in Australia, but yellow males have been studied from India and northern Africa. In Japan, seven colour varieties are recorded (five female, two male)(Nakao et al., 2001).

Related species

Rather more than 80 species from around the world are currently placed in the genus Anaphothrips, of which 17 are from North America, all living on grasses (Nakahara, 1995), and 43 from Australia, mostly living on plants other than grasses (Mound & Masumoto, 2009). The species are structurally very similar to each other, although A. sudanensis is unusual in having strongly bicoloured females.

Biological data

Feeding and breeding only on leaves of Poaceae, commonly in the leaf axils, thus leading to streaks on leaves as these expand and mature; recorded from many different Poaceae, including Saccharum.

Distribution data

This species is widespread across the Old World tropics and subtropics from north Africa to Australia. It is also common in the territories around the Carribean, including Puerto Rico, and is a potential immigrant to California.

Family name

THRIPIDAE - THRIPINAE

Species name

Anaphothrips sudanensis Trybom

Original name and synonyms

Anaphothrips sudanensis Trybom, 1911: 1
Euthrips flavicinctus Karny, 1912: 115
Euthrips (Anaphothrips) alternans Bagnall, 1913: 291
Neophysopus medioflavus Schmutz, 1913: 1017
Euthrips citricinctus Bagnall, 1919: 270
Anaphothrips speciosus Hood, 1919: 76
Anaphothrips transvaalensis Faure, 1925: 150
Anaphothrips bicinctus Hood, 1925: 50
Anaphothrips bicolor Morgan, 1925: 4
Anaphothrips flavicinctus f. brachyptera Priesner, 1935: 355
Anaphothrips (Neophysopus) piercei Moulton, 1936: 265

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.

Nakahara S (1995) Review of the Nearctic species of Anaphothrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae). Insecta Mundi 9: 221–248.

Nakao S, Yamada H, Matsumoto K & Nakashima A (2001) Body Colour and Wing Length Variation within a Local Population of Anaphothrips sudanensis (Thysanoptera: Thripidae). Japanese Journal of Entomology 4: 11–19.