Distinguishing features

Females without wings or ocelli. Body brown to dark brown, legs and antennal segments III–IV paler. Antennae 8-segmented; sense cone simple on segments III & IV. Head, thorax, and at least anterior abdominal tergites strongly reticulate; with no long setae except on tergite IX. Mesonotum, metanotum and abdominal segment I all strongly transverse. Abdominal tergites V–VII with median transverse row of about 10 setae; tergite VIII with no posteromarginal comb; tergite X with complete longitudinal division. Sternites with median transverse row of about 8 small discal setae.

Related species

The genus Prosopoanaphothrips includes only a single species. In general appearance, this wingless thrips resembles some species in Anaphothrips, but in that genus no species have discal setae on the sternites. The reticulate body surface suggests a relationship to the Panchaetothripinae (Masomoto & Okajima, 2017).

Biological data

Breeding on various Poaceae, particularly Bromus rigidus, on leaves and in leaf axils (Bailey, 1948). Large populations can result in severe stunting damage to the leaves of its grass host plants.

Distribution data

Recorded only from California.

Family name

THRIPIDAE - THRIPINAE

Species name

Prosopoanaphothrips reticulatus (Moulton)

Original name and synonyms

Sericothrips reticulatus Moulton, 1907: 50

References

Bailey SF (1948) Grain and grass-infesting thrips. Journal of Economic Entomology 41: 701–706.

Masumoto M & Okajima S (2017) Anaphothrips genus-group: key to world genera, with two new species and three new records from Japan (Thysanoptera, Thripidae). Zootaxa 4272(2): 201–220.

Thysanoptera Californica