Oxythrips occidentalisOxythrips occidentalisThis species has not been studied by the present authors. According to the description it is similar in structure to O. pini except that females have the tenth abdominal segment unusually elongate, almost tube-like. Variation in the length of this segment has been recorded within populations of O. strobilus from China (Cui et al., 2017).
Three species were described from North America in the genus Chilothrips, but Zhang et al. (2018) synonymised that genus with Oxythrips. The two species from California described by Stannard (1973), O. occidentalis and O. rotrameli, both have the tenth abdominal tergite exceptionally elongate, whereas C. pini was described from Maryland with a more normal tenth tergite. The only specimens from California that have been studied by the present authors agree with the character states given for C. pini. In view of the variation in length of the tenth tergite within a population of O. strobilus in China (Cui et al., 2017), there is a possibility that the two species from California are the same as the one from Maryland. Bailey (1957: 189) recorded the European species Oxythrips quercicola Bagnall from Pinus and Quercus in California, but subsequent examination of Bailey's specimens indicates that this was a misidentification.
Recorded from Cupressus pygmaea [Cupressaceae], and presumably breeding in the male cones.
Known only from California.
THRIPIDAE - THRIPINAE
Oxythrips occidentalis (Stannard)
Chilothrips occidentalis Stannard, 1973: 110
Bailey SF (1957) The thrips of California Part I: Suborder Terebrantia. Bulletin of California Insect Survey 4: 143–220.
Cui YZ, Xi JH & Wang J (2017) Female polymorphism in Chilothrips strobilus (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), with the first description of the male. Zootaxa 4358 (1): 193–196.
Stannard LJ (1973) Two new species of Chilothrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae). Journal of the Kansas entomological Society 46: 107–115.
Zhang SM, Wang ZH, Li YJ & Mound LA (2018) One new species, two generic synonyms and eight new records of Thripidae from China (Thysanoptera). Zootaxa 4418 (4): 370–378.